[CONTENTID1]Buttercup[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Chapter Twenty-Nine[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

“This is it?” Yoonhee closed the car door and looked up at a tall building amidst the concrete jungle of Seoul. It had huge glass windows that reflected the sunlight and its entrance was framed with modern metal structures. They occupied the last available parking spot in front of it.

“Yes,” Jongin confirmed when he joined her and Baekhyun, who had insisted on tagging along. “My studio is on the 16th floor. We’ll take the lift.”

“Please, I would die if I had to climb up so many steps.”

Jongin laughed and told her and Baekhyun to follow him. Together, they entered the building which housed several other businesses on the remaining floors—it was certainly not a place where she would expect to find a dancing studio. After crossing the lobby, they took the lift and reached their destination.

The glass doors at the end of a hallway were unlocked and the faint sounds of music could be heard when the group passed them. Another door, this one wider, led to a spacious room with a high, black-painted ceiling. Sunlight fell in through a large window front which gave a wonderful view over adjacent buildings and a small park. The wall opposite the windows was covered in mirrors. Black speakers decorated the corner of the room. Yoonhee had never seen a place like this except on TV.

“You’re early,” an unfamiliar voice asked, and only then did she realize that they weren’t alone. A vampire stood next to the boxes and turned down the music before he approached them. His hair was bleached blond and his eye color resembled Baekhyun’s. She mirrored his friendly smile, assuming this was Taemin.

“You’re early too,” Jongin grinned and introduced them. “This is Yoonhee, and this is Taemin, one of my friends.”

“And a dance teacher at his studio,” Taemin added. “Nice to meet you, Yoonhee. Jongin told me his clan got a new member recently, so I was curious.”

He was friendly, and had she not felt his aura, she would have never guessed he was a vampire. “Yes, I joined shortly after I met Baekhyun. We’re soulmates.”

Taemin’s smile was blinding, an amused glimmer brightening his eyes. “I know. Jongin told me, and I can smell it.”

“Oh… right, I always forget,” Yoonhee laughed and shook her head. “You also belong to one of Seoul’s clans, don’t you?”

His smile faded like dew in the morning sun. “Yes. You must be asking because of what happened recently. The council has contacted my clan as well.”

“Do you know anything about the vampire on the lose?” Baekhyun asked—he was quite tense, as always when this topic came up, and stood behind Yoonhee with his arm draped around her waist.

“You must be worried,” Taemin mumbled, eyes briefly narrowing before he frowned. “Minho has looked into it after Wonshik asked us for help, but he hasn’t made much progress except for an encounter with a turned human… It happened after nightfall near N Seoul Tower in Namsan Park. The… creature caught the scent of some tourists and was about to attack them, but Minho interfered. Then he reported it to the council. Unfortunately, it was impossible to find out when and where the human was turned and who did it.”

“It shouldn’t be so hard to find one damn vampire,” Baekhyun scowled. “I hate to admit it, but this person knows what they’re doing.”

“Yeah, if they can fool even the council…” Jongin chimed in. “But enough of this, we’re here to have fun and not to worry over things we can’t control.”

Taemin nodded in agreement. “Will you stay for a while? My next class only starts in an hour, so I have free time until then.”

“We’ve got all day,” Baekhyun shrugged. “Why?”

“Since we’re in our dance studio, Jongin and I could teach you a few things,” Taemin grinned. “What do you think?”

Yoonhee’s eyes widened—at first, she wasn’t thrilled about the idea because she wasn’t the most elegant person when it came to dancing, but then again, getting an opportunity to see her soulmate dance was a tempting prospect, so she nodded vigorously. “Yes, sounds good!”

Baekhyun raised his eyebrows at her enthusiasm, and felt the cool sensation of jealousy crawl into his chest. He crossed his arms, scrutinizing her. “Why are you suddenly so… interested in this? I don’t think you’ve ever been into dancing.”

His icy blue eyes made her nervous—so she blurted out her thoughts without realizing that Taemin and Jongin were still here. “I want to see you dance,” she admitted.

“Me?” he echoed in surprise, but quickly recovered and smirked. “You want to see me dance?”

Her cheeks grew redder by the second—why did he have to repeat it like that? “Yes, now stop saying it!”

“Are they always like this?” Taemin asked Jongin who watched the scene with raised eyebrows.

“Yes, always. It’s nothing new to see them flirting wherever they are, regardless of the company they’re in.”

“You’re just jealous because you haven’t found your soulmate yet,” Baekhyun replied with a provocative grin.

“No, I’m—”  

“Enough talking, let’s begin,” Taemin interrupted before the two vampires could start a longwinded discussion. He the music and stood in front of the wide mirrors on the wall. “Repeat my movements, we’ll warm up first.”

And thus, they had their very first dance lesson with plenty of smiles from Taemin (and eye-rolling from Jongin) when Baekhyun insisted on showing off—he clearly wanted to impress his soulmate and it was working. Yoonhee was blushing and staring and getting flustered because of the suggestive movements he did. His agility and elegance as a vampire certainly made him a natural at dancing. He didn’t have any problems with following Taemin’s instructions. Yoonhee on the other hand got confused a few times which resulted in amused grins from her dance teachers. They had chosen a modern pop song with a fairly well-known choreography, nevertheless it was difficult to memorize. And keeping up with vampires and their insane stamina was a whole other challenge!

By the time the hour was up and Taemin’s young students arrived, Yoonhee was out of breath and wiped the sweat off her brow.

“I need a shower when I’m home,” she panted, catching a certain someone’s attention. Baekhyun arched his brow, lips twitching in excitement.

Yoonhee saw his hopeful expression and was torn between laughing and groaning. “Let me guess, you want to join?”

“How could I refuse such a divine opportunity?”

“You didn’t even break a sweat. There’s no reason to take a shower.”

His smirk was devious. Pure evil. “I disagree. There are a hundred good reasons to take a shower with you, buttercup.”

“Someone’s having naughty thoughts again,” she breathed, unsuccessful at hiding her grin.

The night was calm, the stars were visible, and Yoonhee sat comfortably on the small balcony of her room. She had covered her legs with a fluffy blanket and listened to the faint sounds of a guitar from somewhere in the building, assuming it was Chanyeol working on one of his songs. It was a nice addition to the serene atmosphere, so she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall behind her as she listened. The past days had been very eventful. She had many things on her mind and wasn’t sure if she felt happy or anxious.

On one hand, it was nice to be in her flower shop, doing what she enjoyed. She had grown closer to several clan members as well, spending time together and discovering new things about them. Moreover, her and Baekhyun’s relationship had never been better—everything could be perfect, if it wasn’t for the strange vampire running rampant in Seoul, killing humans or turning them into bloodthirsty monsters. They were no closer to finding the one responsible. It unsettled her since it took an impressive amount of skill to elude so many vampires at once, to never leave a trace or any hint of their identity. All of Seoul’s clans were prepared to defend their territory against the disturber—and as Yoonhee had learned from Junmyeon, it was rare for them to band together like this. It demonstrated how serious the issue was.

She glanced at the blanket on her lap and removed a lint, sighing to herself. Life could be so easy now that Sooyoung was gone, but it seemed like things were never easy when you were a part of the supernatural world.

A change in the atmosphere accompanied by a warm shower of magic alerted her to the presence of her soulmate. He had arrived suddenly in the room behind her and reached the balcony door in the blink of an eye. When he joined her, she wasn’t surprised to see him.

“Hi, Baekhyun. Were you looking for me?”

“No, I can smell you through the entire house. I don’t need to look for you,” he said with an incredulous expression—because this should be obvious.

She cracked a smile. “When you word it like this, it sounds like I stink.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, laughing in disbelief. “Flowers don’t stink. You smell sweet, buttercup.” He sat down next to her and embraced her so that she was more comfortable, tucked into his chest, the safest place in the world. And her favorite as well.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked.

“Just thinking.”

“About?”

“The past days and… the issue we’re dealing with. You’ve been searching for the perpetrator, but what if you actually find them and they hurt you?”

“Are you worried about me? That’s ridiculous, I’ve fought many vampires before, so it’s not like I’m defenseless.”

“Come to think of it, you never told me much about your past.”

“Do you want to hear a few stories? I could tell you how I joined Junmyeon’s clan.”

“Please,” she whispered, resting the back of her head on his chest. She gazed up at the passing clouds that were about to obscure the moon.

“It happened after I left Aeri’s clan. For a while, I lived alone and minded my own business, but I wasn’t happy with my life at the time. After staying with a big clan for so long, it felt strange to be all alone. The fact that I hadn’t found my soulmate yet only made it more frustrating. I had already traveled the world many times at that point and wanted to settle down and find a permanent home, but I was wary of joining another clan.”

“What made you change your mind?”

A gleam of mirth illuminated his eyes. “Junmyeon’s insistence, I suppose. He’s tenacious and determined when he puts his mind to something. We met one evening at a bar he frequents. At that time, he hadn’t met Yerin yet, so we were both looking for a human source of blood. It’s usually not appreciated to do this in another clan’s territory, however, he didn’t mind my presence and strung up a conversation with me. I’m not really sure what he saw in me, but we got along, so we met up often in that place until he eventually invited me to visit his clan’s home. I knew where this was going—he had asked me to join his clan a few times.”

“But you wanted to get to know him first, I assume.”

“Exactly. I needed to avoid being dragged into another mess… Aeri’s clan was trouble since they frequently broke the council’s laws.”

“They killed humans, didn’t they?”

“Yes, among other things. I didn’t want to be part of such a dishonorable clan anymore. I still consider my relationship with Aeri the worst mistake of my life.”

“Making mistakes is okay as long as we don’t keep repeating them. The new clan you ended up joining was the right choice.”

He chuckled, “Yes, it was. After Junmyeon introduced me to everyone and it was clear we would get along, I decided to join. Never once regretted it.”

“Me neither.”

“Then I’m glad, my flower,” he mumbled and nuzzled his face in her hair, breathing in her wonderful fragrance. When it came to her affection, he couldn’t help but be greedy—he always wanted more of it.

“Hey, that tickles,” she giggled when he blew hot air on her neck, his lips soon connecting with her warm skin, eliciting a content sigh from