62. Mijin

"Elric, stop sticking so close to me..."

"I'm lonely...Who else to walk beside except you? Besides, I was always with Stan. I practically followed him everywhere."

"I told you to leave! I have to go see my parents today..."

"Then I'll go with you!"

"No! You can't. Don't you have a home? Go there!"

Yeon was beginning to become more and more frustrated with Elric's clinginess. He did understand his situation though. It was obvious he craved for his runaway fated and was desperate to find him. Still, it was frustrating having Elric follow him everywhere.

"I'm still not used to this side of you. And why do you still wear a mask?" Taking off his hat to reveal a messy hair, Yeon laughed when Elric complained as he rebelled for it.

"Are you hiding from someone? You appear more disguised which is unlike you..."

"I'm not! The swelling may have subsided but I'm still purple and blue..."

"Then why do you wear contact lenses? Isn't it obvious you're hiding proof of your mark?"

"It's not like that..." Elric spoke as he finally reached for his hat, grabbed it from Yeon and put it on. "I had a reputation and now I'm the one who'd gotten bit. Do you know how many of my past lovers have ridiculed me?"

Yeon laughed at Elric's comment. It was funny seeing this side of him. A former playboy...maybe still is who prided himself and proudly flaunted his reputation was now fated to the ex boyfriend of one of his lovers.

"You can't hide forever Elric. Once Niel comes back, what will you do? He'd be upset if he suspected you were ashamed of him."

Elric stopped in his tracks, forcing Yeon to do the same and look at him. He he gazed ahead in silence as if processing what Yeon had just said.

"I'm not ashamed of my marking. I admit wearing a scarf the first two weeks post the marking but it was because my mother sturbbonly insisted. After the incident involving Stan, she's been having people watch me like a hawk, not to mention, I did return home with my face all swollen up from Niel's beating. She also gave me an earful of being marked and abandoned by my fated...damn! Even now as I listen to myself talk, the idea of being fated to Niel still sounds unfathomable to me. I just wanted to have a little fun with him that's all...find out why Mijin was so crazy about him despite her not liking his scent."

Looking back at Yeon, Elric wondered to himself how Yeon had confidently walked around campus post his attack with bite marks on his neck, his former luminous red eyes and leaving a trail of a strong sweet scent as if he didn't care of his predicament.

"You'll stare a hole through my head you fool." Yeon complained.

"I can't help but wonder what was going through your mind that time nine months ago. Seeing that I'm in a rather similar situation now, I admire your confidence. You had no one beside you to comfort you...alone...completely isolated yet here I am, doing my best to cover up my current status with scent inhibitors and what not."

"That's because I could care less what people think of me. They don't know me and their opinion of me is none of my business."

"My case is different. Having bedded a lot of people in campus and outside, I've accumulated a lot of unfinished business. I had to change my number to avoid people that I'm even surprised how little people knew of me to not see through my disguise."

Yeon scanned Elric from head to toe then shook his head amused. "It's silly really. Just by looking at you, anyone knows it's you Elric. Besides, you are hanging around me, the guy that made the graduation ceremony get delayed, not to mention dating Stan and all. They probably think you're going through a phase and are giving you time to come off it."

"You're right. You have become quite famous here. Being around you doesn't do me justice at all..."

"Yeon!"

"Mora...?"

Elric watched at Yeon's discomfort when he spotted Mora waving at him as she ran towards them. He wanted to excuse himself and give them privacy but decided against it when Yeon held onto his shirt firmly to stop him from leaving.

"I almost thought I wouldn't be able to catch you." Mora said upon reaching them then took time to catch her breath.

"It's been a while..."

"I know. I've been trying to get in touch with you but I can't get through you. How have you been?" Mora asked then looked up at Elric and raised an eyebrow.

"How are you Elric?"

"You can recognize me?" Elric seemed shocked at the realization that Yeon had been right afterall.

"Huh? You're a hard person to miss..." Turning her attention back to Yeon, she continued. "Anyway, I've been meaning to talk to you. I'm unable to get in touch with Mijin for sometime now and Niel has been nowhere to be seen. I can't get through either of them. I'm not sure what's going on so I'm a little worried. Perhaps you know something...are they okay?"

"They did split up so they probably need time to heal..." Elric replied in Yeon's stead.

"But that was a while ago. Besides, I was in touch with both of them post their breakup especially Mijin..."

"Are you worried for your brother?" Yeon asked plainly, unable to keep up with Maya's pretense anymore. She and Mijin were the ones who'd abandoned him at that party in the first place and Stan was in a comma from overusing his scents because of Mora's brother.

Yeon watched her discomfort at his question as she tried to think of how to respond to him, unsure if he knew the truth or not, and why he'd expose her infront of Elric.

"How do you know my brother? Did Mijin introduce you two?"

"No. He was among those arrested recently. I'm sure you haven't spread a word of Stan's predicament because you are afraid of what a shame it would bring to your family. We all know you were able to start the support group because of the influence your family has over this school..."

"Yeon... It's not what you think. Mijin is to blame for all of this..."

"Still choosing to act innocent...Mora, exempting yourself from any blame. When Niel confronted you that day over the phone, you were on loud speaker and I heard everything..."

"Can we talk in private pease Yeon..." Mora's face was aloof as she glance back and forth at Elric and then Yeon.

"I know a lot too so don't worry. You can speak comfortably infont of me...though soon enough, everyone will be walking right past us as afternoon classes wind up and evening classes begin. I suggest a change of location."

Mora seemed relieved to have been away from the public eye afterwards. In the open like that, she was afraid of being seen with Yeon and Elric in the event she lost her cool and spoke aloud out of panic like she did the day Niel had confronted her.

"The same auditorium where you chaired the support group seems a befitting place to have this conversation." Elric's sarcasm seemed to have made Mora uncomfortable for she keep fidgeting in her seat.

"I'm the only one who can access this place since I often come early to prepare for the group's meetings..."

"Get to the point." Yeon cut her short, unable to contain his patience any longer. He hadn't planned on meeting up with Mora but he was still glad she called out for him. "I have somewhere to be."

"It's true, I won't deny being involved in what happened to you. I've wanted to come clean for the longest time but Mijin disuaded me against it. She wanted to tell you first and while at it clear my name as well..."

"So all you care about is saving face?" Yeon replied nonchalantly. He didn't want to loose his temper and reveal the fault in his eyes. Stan's uncle had advised him of the glitch disappearing overtime but it was still there, often appearing whenever he felt disoriented over Stan's situation.

"That's not it. It is true Mijin was involved with my brother intimately. It was him that introduced us two a long time ago and afterwards I met you...but my brother liked Mijin. He was willing to do anything for her..." Playing with her fingers nervously, Mora continued. "He has always had a wild temper and acted like a psychopath almost always but Mijin brought a change in him...a certain change which was good. He seemed happier around Mijin and it was until he discovered your sister being seriously involved with Niel that he snapped and got arrested."

"Why are you confessing now to me? Why not go to the police with this information? Your brother was the fourth person involved in my case that they couldn't trace... You are a key witness. What does this have to do with what you and my sister did to me, which Stan is now paying for?" Yeon asked, wishing to end the discussion quickly.

"I'm getting there so please be a little patient." Mora extend a hand to touch Yeon's and was relieved when he didn't pull away. "I'm genuinely sorry about what happened to you. That's why I was trying to get in touch with you after Niel confronted me over the matter. I just wanted to come clean and be able to sleep at night..."

Taking her hand away from Yeon's, Elric said seeming amused. "Well, you have the chance now so don't leave anything out if you want to sleep like a baby tonight."

"Oh...I..."Mora stuttered nervously as she retracted her hand, placing it on her lap.

"Don't panic. Just speak calmly." Yeon said after noticing her nervousness. He remembered how she'd reacted over the phone and having her in that panicked mode would just keep this discussion dragged even much longer. He wanted to leave for his parent's home.

After a few long seconds, Mora finally spoke up. "My brother is the one who supplied the drugs to Mijin. He was willing to do anything for her because he was Mijin's fated."

"What?" Both Yeon and Elric exclaimed.

"Yes...but my brother was scheduled to pair up with someone else, a proposed union out of longevity of profits by unifying stocks and when he rejected the partnership, it was done forcefully with the drug."

Seeing that both Yeon and Elric were still confused, Mora continued. "I'm not supposed to be telling you this...but I feel trapped...If my family were to find out, they'll send me away....I just...I've had enough of it all. I do not know the name of that drug but streetwise, Mijin and my brother called it SC, abbreviated from 'Sweet Candy'. It's supposed to make an individual see the person they want to be with. Medically it's prescribed in small doses to pairs as a last resort just so as to see if they were willing to be together and miss out on being fated. If each of them took the drug and still saw the other as their partner, then they could live without having to wait for their fated...it was more like a proof of love as opposed to the the natural guaranteed one of being fated to someone."

"I've heard about it. It's quite an expensive procedure." Elric added to which Mora nodded in agreement.

"It is. That's why only a small dose is required but when consumed in large quantities, especially after being tampered with, it stays longer in the body. The worst part is one won't know what has happened to them until they return to their conscious state and that is what was given to my brother for him to forcefully pair up with a business partner of my parents. He ended up marking someone else thinking it was Mijin. You may not know this but maybe you exhibited the same kind of symptoms, hallucinations when you were drugged...but I shouldn't have left you alone to drink all by yourself. You took so much that day.

Anyway, my brother changed afterwards. He swore to bring shame to our family and caused mayhem here and there. Since him being fated to Mijin was tampered with, it changed everything leaving him trapped. They often met from time to time with Mijin but he couldn't mark her as they both wanted. Besides, my family would never accept Mijin. They knew of her promiscuous ways before being with my brother. Additionally, my brother's marriage to his pair was planned and once more, he was drugged into the marriage with hallucinations of your sister. When he found out later, he ran away and swore to expose my parents therefore, to cut the long story short, Mijin fell in love with Niel considering she was no longer connected to my brother and that made him furious. He may have meant to hurt her when he attacked you but it wasn't right. You were innocent in all this.

My family tried to hide the case by threatening the lives of those that took you out of that club however, no one had expected you to have such a strong scent or meet your fated that night, not to mention you never hid what had happened to you. It caught the media's attention which with the second case involving Stan, my brother may have been trying to cut loose ends by following your scent but Stan ended up in the mix of it all."

"So Yeon had been the target yet again?"

"Yes." Mora replied simply.

"Then how did they know of me and Stan? The police said Stan and I had been followed since we left the airport that very day" Yeon asked.

Mora looked at Elric then back at Yeon before she said. "That you'll have to ask Mijin."