Chapter 30

Sullyoon's face looks strange as Niki pulls away from her, watching her reaction. The girl is undoubtedly confused and scared. The fact that she was unexpectedly kissed by her crush hasn't improved her mood—it only made her feel worse.

Doesn't it look like he just pitied her, and kissed her just to cheer her up?

Throwing him a distracted glance, the girl silently walks away. Niki runs his hand through his black hair, wondering what a huge mistake he made acting on impulse.

Why did he think, that this kiss would somehow strengthen his relationship with Sullyoon?

A drunk person is undoubtedly the biggest idiot.

The teenager disappears from his sight in the blink of an eye, and he returns to the table, wishing to get so drunk that he could stop thinking. Currently, he would rather not feel regret for what he did.

As he walks back to his seat, he accidentally bumps into his friend's shoulder, who throws him an offended look. Jake, who has Yuna practically hanging on his shoulder, glares at Niki, watching him drink large amounts of alcohol.

He guesses something happened. And his belief is confirmed when he spots Sullyoon, who, like a rebellious teenager, is dancing on the dance floor, looking nothing like herself.

"I think our little one should go home before she gets into more trouble. She's acting weird," Jake says to Yuna, who lazily glances toward the dance floor. Looking at her youngest sister with a half-conscious gaze, she frowns in annoyance.

"Yeah, Niki should go home too, because I can see his face, and I'm guessing he's about to cause a scene at the club." Jake nods at her words. "But where are Wonyoung and Sunghoon? I don't see them anywhere."

The man looks around, although it's difficult to see anything with the crowd, and the flashing lights.

Drunk Yuna pulls out her phone from her bag and, with a blurry gaze, looks at a message from her sister.

"If I'm reading this correctly, she went somewhere with her young lover," she emphasizes the last word. "She didn't say they're going home, just that they left the club because they'd both had enough."

"Just left, texting?"

"That's Wonyoung for you, what did you expect? Sunghoon probably had no say in it. I noticed that he was pretty drunk."

Jake sighs loudly and glances at his friend, who is sulking on the couch, periodically tipping his glass to his lips.

"Then let's leave the club. Maybe we can make peace between Sullyoon and Niki. You take the little one by the collar, I'll deal with the sulking warrior," the man declares.

Both are outraged, acting like children as they're forcibly escorted out of the club. Yuna informs them that Wonyoung and Sunghoon left earlier, but they barely notice, pretending to be offended by the world.

Niki throws himself into his friend's arms, who is also not very sober. The four of them are drunk, so their rational thinking is now clouded by alcohol.

"Let me go! I'm not staying around this idiot!" Sullyoon screams, pointing a finger at the oldest guy. "He isn't concerned about my feelings! He does whatever he wants, and I'm not his mascot! I'm done being called 'little one.' It's 'ass,' not 'little one!' I'm a grown, beautiful woman, and nobody has to pity me, especially treat me like a little kid!"

Drunk Sullyoon is a different kind of boldness. After drinking, especially when she's in a bad mood, she turns into an entirely different person.

Niki snorts under his breath, shooting her a sharp look.

"You'll always be 'little one' because you keep proving how irresponsible you are! We have to keep an eye on you all the time, watch you like a kid because you can't be reasonable! You're in a bad mood, so you danced with all the guys when you hated that before!"

Jake scratches his head and nervously glances at Yuna, who laughs goofily under her breath.

"And you, you have emotional problems! If you're not choking innocent people, you're kissing them for no reason!"

Yuna opens her eyes wide, feeling as though she's sobered up for a moment.

"Who did he kiss?"

"This isn't a movie, so you kiss your victim first! Kill them and then want them to love you?" Sullyoon doesn't back down, throwing Niki an angry glare.

"You kissed 'little one'? Are you out of your mind, idiot?" Jake whispers to his friend, who ignores him.

Walking on the sidewalk, they don't even feel the cold air. Alcohol bubbles in their systems, giving them a warm sensation.

Snowflakes fall from the sky, and Sullyoon's attention is drawn to a playground. She turns in that direction, and the rest follow her, even the sulking Niki.

The eighteen-year-old girl sits on a swing and starts swinging, ignoring the others. The twenty-year-old guy snorts under his breath at the sight.

"And she says she's not a child?" he mutters. "Good one."

"Dude, don't pour oil on the fire. Don't you know you have to let women have their way?" Jake scolds his friend, but Niki isn't letting go.

"I'm not the type to let anyone have their way. I'm not losing this one. Overall, it'll go my way."

"You're the only one who thinks that. Little Sullyoon is horrible when she's in a bad mood, and you definitely fell victim to her."

"One more word, and I'll bury you in that sandbox," he warns, pointing to the exact spot. "The kids will be very surprised when they start playing in the summer and find your bones."

"I love your sense of humor, dude. It's on the same level as the joke about the frog who goes to the doctor and says something's wrong with her joint."

Drunk, Yuna enters a small kingdom, screaming like a child as she looks at her friends from the wooden house. Jake runs to her, laughing joyfully as he climbs and uses the slide with her.

Currently, they're like kindergarteners, enjoying the moment.

The sulking Niki looks at Sullyoon, who is swinging high, entirely ignoring him.

He's furious that she won't give up. She's stubborn and holds her ground. It turns out that, in reality, she has the worst temper of all the sisters.

"I'm done with you, little demon!" he yells toward the eighteen-year-old girl as he walks toward her. The girl continues to ignore him, but he doesn't back down. "What did I ever do to you, huh? I have no control over what I did in my past life! How many times do I have to tell you?"

Sullyoon sharply slows the swing with her feet, glaring at him from under half-closed eyelids.

"I'm not mad at that anymore! Now I have another reason," she says, measuring him from bottom to top.

"What's wrong with you, girl? Can you finally give me a break? I want things to be like before between us."

The eighteen-year-old girl is silent for a moment, then speaks in a soft voice.

"Then why did you kiss me? Why did you do it if you weren't pitying me?"

Niki swallows nervously, then answers:

"I did it in a moment of emotion. I'm sorry if I hurt you. You know how important you are to me, Sull. You have always been."

The teenager smiles faintly, but moments later glares at him again.

"You can push me on the swing! And for now, that's all! You have to work off your mistakes..."

In the wooden house, Jake and Yuna look at each other at the same time, smiling. Their faces are too close, making them feel awkward for a moment. The man quickly changes the mood, mocking Niki:

"I'm not the type of guy to give in. I don't lose. Overall, it'll go my way." Yuna laughs, looking at Niki and her younger sister. "I can already see how it's going his way. He immediately tucked his tail so she would let him off the hook," she adds. "He's acting like a typical husband."

"I've suspected that for a while, but they're clearly into each other. Seeing how much Niki cares about my sister, now I'm not afraid of him hurting her. I will become a fan of 'Nisull.'"

"Nisull?"

"Yeah, we're just waiting for Sunwoo," Yuna says with an amused voice.

Jake thinks for a moment, then jokingly says:

"But Jayu sounds nice too, doesn't it?"

The twenty-year-old girl swallows nervously, looking closely at her friend's laughing eyes. He thinks it's a joke, but she would gladly admit that their name combination sounds fantastic.

***

Wonyoung opens her eyes, feeling the heaviness in her head. She lifts herself from the unconscious Sunghoon's shoulder, realizing they're in a car in the back seat.

Both of them are drunk, but she doesn't remember ordering a taxi to get home.

Her sisters and friends aren't with them, so how did they end up here?

"Have you sobered up at all, Wonnie?" She hears a voice and quickly realizes it belongs to Jay. "I was worried about you two, so I took care of you, my closest friends."

"What the hell are you talking about, Jay? How did you manage to get us out of the club without anyone seeing?"

"Are you asking a vampire about that? Seriously?" His voice sounds amused. "Don't worry. If the police stop me for being drunk, I'll hypnotize them. They won't lock us up."

"Why did you take us? What do you want? Where are you taking us?"

"Come on, Wonyoung. We buried the hatchet, and you promised you'd let me get rid of the curse."

"So?"

"So, I want to spend some alone time with you guys before you send me off to the afterlife."

The brunette girl frowns, trying to understand what Jay means. The alcohol still buzzing in her body makes it difficult to understand his behavior.

"Is this some kind of joke? Why are you still doing things your way? My sisters and friends will be worried about us."

Jay frowns in the rearview mirror as he looks at her.

"You think I didn't think about that? I sent them a text from your phone. Later, you can tell them you're having a day with Sunghoon and won't be back until the evening. The whole Saturday is for us."

"You're messed up, Jay," the girl mutters, glancing at the sleeping boy beside her.

"I'm only just now realizing this, Wonnie? Yeah, I'm messed up, especially since I didn't kill you after everything you've done to me. I actually enjoyed spending time with you. I really want you to lift this vampire curse off me. I want to spend my last moments with you."

"Last moments of what?"

"Don't worry... you'll find out everything. I've got one last secret to reveal. I'm sure Sunghoon will be eager to stab my body with a golden sword."

"I don't know if I want to know, you sick freak. You've already messed up our lives enough. Especially Sunghoon, he's suffered a lot. What else do you want to reveal to him? Is that not enough for you? Wouldn't it be better to take that secret to the grave?"

"No, I want to see your faces. Besides, I love dramas."

"You're a thousand years old and still acting like a child. I thought you were finally done with us."

Jay sighs dramatically.

"Your hatred for me is breaking my heart, Wonnie."

"Stop with the games. I know you're having a blast."

"I'll take you home now, because I know you've got a sword and golden dust hidden there," he changes the subject, looking at her in the mirror. "You have five minutes for that, because I don't like waiting too long."

"Are you kidding? My house is so big it takes me five minutes just to get to my room."

"In that case, you've got two minutes."

"If I didn't know you were my enemy from a past life, I'd think I'd sense it. Since I've been checking horoscopes since I was a kid, there's no doubt you're a karmic person in my life."

"Are you sure it's me?"

"Who else could it be?"

"Well, I don't know... maybe Sunghoon? I think he's the one bringing all the suffering into your life. It's because of him that you're going through all this, Wonnie."

The girl glances at the sleeping boy beside her and nervously swallows. Although Jay is partly right, she still can't blame Sunghoon for all the misfortunes. He's also a victim of that cursed vampire who ruined his life a hundred years ago.

When Jay finally disappears, each of them will regain the peace they long for. That's what she hopes.