Back again with another, unfortunately, a little short chapter. I hope you still enjoy reading it <3 

Xiao Zhan's POV

I stayed in Haoxuan's room for several hours. Not only because it was nice to have a little chat with my best friend alone, but also because somehow I was reluctant to go back to my room. I wasn't scared. I was ... nervous?

I couldn't quite decipher these feelings but I thought for now it was better to just stay here and spend some time with Haoxuan.

We talked about different stuff, mostly about how relaxed Haoxuan felt here despite being surrounded by blood-suckers. I kind of disliked that word but I decided to let it pass this time. Haoxuan talked a lot more than usual which was probably because he was far away from home.

"Blood-Suckers are a lot better to deal with that with my old man." He grinned and I couldn't stop myself from commenting anymore.

"That might be but can you please refrain from using that word blood-sucker? It's offensive, you know?"

"What now? Did you fully become a blood-sucker now?" Haoxuan laughed.

"No!" I frowned at him feeling anger fighting itself to the surface. "But it still sounds offensive. You liked to spend your nights with different girls and I ain't calling you a whore either, am I?"

He gaped at me. "Well, damn! That hurt!"

"I guess so." I bit my lips feeling terrible for saying that. "Sorry, that was... sorry..."

"No, you are right. I did kind of do that so I guess it is true whereas I wouldn't call myself a whore either." He frowned. "I did look like it, didn't it?"

"Hey, sorry. I shouldn't have said. But ... you kept saying that word and it made me angry so...."

"No, I told you, it's fine. I won't say it anymore." He waved his hand. "But seriously now, it did look like I was ... whoring around, right? Do you think Ji Yang knows? I mean, will he dislike me even more when he finds out about my old habits?"

"I doubt he can dislike you any more than he already does. He hates you to the core."

"For no reason, mind you. I don't mind him hating my father for what he had done to him Hell, I am hating him like no one else. And honestly, knowing what he did to Ji Yang makes me even more angry at him. I never thought of actually killing that man but..."

I raised my brows.

"... but now I do. I would love to tear that head off his shoulders, use it as a football and then burn it to ashes before feeding the rest of his body to stray dogs. No, cancel the last part. Dogs don't deserve such an awful meal." He frowned and shuddered.

"Xiao Zhan, I think this place here makes me evil..."

I snorted. "I doubt it. I think you are only a little too invested in Ji Yang."

"I will make him understand that I am not at fault for anything he had gone through."

"I think deep down he knows that. He is just venting out his stress and hate on you."

"I appreciate his attention. I bathe in it, actually, but I would like it to be a different kind of attention."

"Different kind?" I asked but deep down I already had a hunch. Maybe more than a hunch.

"Don't you think we look good together?"

I prevented another snort.

"I mean, right now we do have a little hurdle to overcome but I think-"

"Haoxuan, stop spouting nonsense."

"You think? Yeah, well, no matter how much I liked what happened, this was a one-time thing and he doesn't even remember it yet. I kind of expect him to barge into my room and kill me on the spot once he remembers. Maybe he will even torture me..."

"Jesus, Haoxuan!" I looked at him in disbelief "All you said are things to be scared of so why the hell are you smiling?"

Haoxuan blinked. "Am I? No, I think you are wrong."

"You are still smiling." I pointed out and he shook his head.

"Didn't you bite Yibo twice already? You don't look like you hated it. When you talked about it I could see the longing in your eyes as if you would love to dig your teeth... ehh... I mean fangs into him again. See! Your eyes are getting glassing and is that drool I see on your lips?"

I reflexively wiped my mouth and Haoxuan smirked at me.

"What has my situation with Yibo to do with our topic? Weren't we talking about you!?" I glared at him.

"Exactly. Just like you would love to snack on Yibo, I would love to hang out with Ji Yang and let him know the real me. Not the bastard son of his nemesis who he can vent out his anger on, but a good-looking, charming, and funny man who also had a hard time under his nemesis."

I rolled my eyes. "Who would compliment themselves that much?"

"Why? I am good-looking, charming, and funny. Everyone knows."

"Yeah, and I am sure the girls your spent your lonely night with, can vouch for you. They got seduced by you after all."

"Hey, can we stop talking about my past!?" He pouted slightly and I had to laugh. "Let bygones be bygones and concentrate on the here and now. And the future, of course."

I observed Haoxuan for a while before I asked him what I was curious about.

"What if you and Ji Yang do whatever you did last time again? What if he bites you and then turns you?"

Haoxuan blinked and his expression darkened. "Hell, no! I don't want to become a vampire! I mean, no offense or anything. I accept you, of course, and I also accept your kind but that doesn't mean I want to become one of you. And Ji Yang told me that a little biting and sucking won't turn me so it should be fine. Moreover, I trust Ji Yang that he won't turn me. Not even out of spite."

Seeing his honest reaction made me smile. "I am not offended. I am only slowly accepting my nature myself. But it isn't that bad. I mean, drinking blood isn't as nasty as I thought it was. It tasted heavenly."

"I know. Stop drooling." He snorted.

"I am not drooling!" I hissed at him and he laughed. "How would you know how it tastes?"

Haoxuan turned away and suddenly got up. I had the feeling he was avoiding me. I was about to continue questioning him when he answered me.

"Of course I do. A vampire thinking blood is nasty is yet to exist, I would say."

I nodded. "Probably. But it is still strange, I mean, I did taste blood before, as a child more often than as a teenager but although I never was disgusted, I never thought of its taste as heavenly either."

"You are still growing, I guess..." Haoxuan said and turned back to me. "Don't you want to go back to your room?"

"Want to kick me out?!"

He laughed. "Of course not. I just thought it would be better to send you back so you wouldn't get the idea of snacking on me. I don't mind getting bitten, it feels good, but I would rather have someone else do it than you. Sorry, my friend."

I rolled my eyes. "First of all, I won't snack on anyone. And I am not drooling!" I growled which made Haoxuan laugh again.

"Secondly, I can't stand to be more or less locked up in my room all day."

"If that is all you are worried about, why not hang out in Yibo's room for a while instead? Maybe a different room makes you less aggressive."

I jumped up. "Why would I? His room is- I would rather stay in mine!" The images of what happened only a few hours back were haunting my mind again and I felt the air in the room tensing up. Or maybe that was only my imagination because Haoxuan seemed to have no problems at all.

"Can it be you are running away from him because you are embarrassed that you clung onto him like a monkey and almost sucked him dry? Don't be. If he minded, he would have made you realize that. He seems like a guy who would murder people for staring at him longer than 10 seconds. He is a pretty cold guy."

"He is not," I stated. "He just hides his feelings pretty well. Wait until you saw him smiling. I am sure you will change your mind then."

"Ooookaaayyyy...." He stretched the word and felt a wave of frustration running through my body.

'Why won't he believe me? I am living with Yibo! I should know him better than Haoxuan." I thought and shook my head.

His loss. I might have thought differently before but Yibo was pretty cool. His smile will knock you out.

'And his smirk will kill you...'

I frowned at this inner voice of mine.

'His eyes will haunt you...'

Shut up.

'His blood will seduce you...'

Shut up!

'His body will make you-'

"Shut up for god's sake!" I yelled and shocked Haoxuan who flinched.

"I didn't say anything..."

I felt my cheeks burning. "Sorry, I was just... never mind. I think I should go back."

'You want to see him, don't you?'

"Hey, Xiao Zhan, you okay? You look like you are about to throw hands. I hope not at me. I didn't do anything to anger you, did I? I am sure I did not..." He asked carefully and I shook my head.

"No, I am just angry at myself. Forget it. I will go back. See you later." I turned around and left after waving goodbye. Once I stepped into the apartment, I saw Yibo sitting on the couch and observing me. It was as if he had been staring at the door the whole time.

'He heard you returning, you dumb-ass. Why would he stare at the door for hours?' I told myself before turning to my room. I didn't want to stay close to him for too long as it was making me feel nervous and ... weird.

"You have been at your friend's place for a little more than 6 hours...." I heard him saying and shuddered hearing his deep voice.

"S-so what? Do I have a time limit now? Am I not allowed to stay so long right next door?"

"No."

That made me stop walking and turning around. "Why not?"

"You have to stay close to me."

"I was right next door," I repeated.

"It doesn't matter. Something could have happened to you."

"Are you kidding me? Didn't you say yourself that this floor is totally safe and I have nothing to worry about?"

Yibo's ears changed colors but other than that, there was no reaction. I glared at him until he got up and I looked away and stepped back.

"W-what?"

"Dinner will be served in two hours."

"That- You could have said that from where you were sitting. Why approach me?"

"Can't I?" He asked and suddenly stood right in front of me. My heart started to beat irregularly and I had to look away from him despite my inner voice telling me to not do that.

"W-what for?"

He didn't answer but I felt his eyes on me. His closeness was making me nervous and I wanted to run into my room but my body didn't listen and stayed put.

"Are you hungry?" He asked. It was just a small simple question yet it had me react in a way that shouldn't have.

"I am not." It wasn't a lie. I was full of Yibo's blood and wouldn't be able to even get down half a glass of water.

"I am hungry..."

That was it. Just this one sentence and I felt my blood boiling within me, it was difficult breathing too and the temperature in the room rose to the highest level.

'Help him.'

I bit my lips trying to gain back control over my body.

'He is hungry.'

I closed my eyes and only slowly was able to function normally.

'Feed him!'

I growled accidentally and it startled me. I pushed Yibo away, run into my room, and closed the door before locking it.

"Y-you... you can head to the dining room alone. I will stay here, I am not hungry."

I listened closely but didn't hear any movement which told me that Yibo was still staying where I had left him. I had the feeling he was staring at the door and it made me feel... weird. So I went to bed and hid under the blanket.

It didn't help at all.

But I wouldn't leave this room anytime soon. I would rather lock myself in here for weeks than go out and confront Yibo.

'Liar.'

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" I mumbled while covering my ears. Not that it would have helped.

'You will leave this room soon.' It mocked me and I took away the blanket for only as much as it needed to glare into the mirror on the wall.

"Wanna bet!?" I growled at my reflection before turning my back to it.

And just like that it happened that I hid in my room for a whole week without meeting anyone. Not even Yibo. But I heard him. I heard everything he was doing, including taking a shower. I heard him leaving the apartment and returning. I often heard him near my door and putting something down. The scents hitting my nose were telling me it was food, but I didn't touch it.

My inner human was yelling at me, begging me to eat that delicious something in front of my door but my inner vampire was controlling my body and mind. It told me I didn't need that food. It told me I was satiated.

Only that inner voice of mine had a different opinion. It wanted to make me leave the room and get more of what I truly wanted. And I often was close to listening to that voice but in the end, I didn't.

I didn't step out of the room for the whole week. My mind was a mess and I had the feeling I was about to completely lose it. The only thing that stopped that from happening was me listening to any sounds Yibo was making. At first, I was confused why I only heard him and nothing else outside the apartment but then I understood that he must have used the switch in the living room, making me unable to hear anything else but him.

'He is protecting your senses.' The voice had told me. 'He is protecting you.'

For once I agreed with it.

'Soon you will agree with everything I have ever said...'

to be continued...  

Can we jump straight to the "Soon you will agree with everything I have ever said"?

*clearing my voice*

Anyway, if Xiao Zhan stays inside his room for a week and Yibo seems to have not left either unless he fetched some food... and they activated the barrier ... 

Wait...Why do I have a weird feeling about Haoxuan and Ji Yang? Hmm.... a week should be enough to remember... Oh no...  

If you liked this new update, feel free to leave a vote and a comment or two... or three...