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Moonlight, silvery and soft, floated through the high arched windows of the library, falling across the shadowy shapes of thousands and thousands of books. No other light dared to disrupt the dark of night. In this ancient dusty vault, filled with stories and knowledge wilder than the sane mind could imagine, there was nary a candle and nary a sound.
… Save one.
Shhk.
Careful and quiet as this sound was, it nevertheless seemed to screech as it broke the utter silence of the library. It came and went in half a second, leaving quiet to settle once more. Then again: Shhk.
This was none other than the sound of a page being turned. See, if one crept deeper into the library’s silvery gloom, one might see a figure seated at a table, bent over an exquisite leather-bound tome. And if one slunk closer on silent feet, one might be able to make out the features of a pale-faced young man surely no older than sixteen or seventeen, whose body remained as still as stone—except for his eyes, which flitted across the surface of the book before him.
And if one slipped behind him and peered over his shoulder, one might just be able to catch a glimpse of the page to which he had just turned:
Chen Naihua clutched her bag as she hurried towards the metro station. The rain had begun to fall harder, and her hair was already wet. She only hoped that the documents inside her bag hadn’t been damaged.
In her haste, she slipped on a wet patch. She toppled forwards, heart thumping with panic at the thought of the documents getting wet—when suddenly she stopped falling. There was something warm and firm in front of her, preventing her from hitting the ground.
The large hands on her waist and back gently lifted her back onto her feet. Chen Naihua couldn’t help but feel like there was something familiar about those hands…
She looked up and gasped. Glittering black eyes looked down at her, accented by a delicate teardrop mole. It was—
“SONG SHIYU!” the young man roared.
If one had been standing just behind him at that moment, one might have screamed and jumped half a meter into the air.
“You manipulative asshole, if you come near Chen Naihua again—ah? Meimei?” The young man whipped around with a speed entirely distinct from the stone-stillness he’d maintained only a second ago. “What is it?”
“What’s wrong with Song Shiyu?” Shen Xi asked, having recovered from her fright.
Her brother scowled. “Tch, what isn’t wrong with him? Chen Naihua has loved him for years, and it’s so obvious how much she cares for him. But that scum bastard doesn’t appreciate her one bit! He does nothing but use her and hurt her, all the while letting other women cling to him. I can’t believe he’s the main male lead!”
Shen Xi shook her fist. “Men like that should just die!”
“Death would be too good for him!” Shen Yuan closed the book with force. “… Ahem. So why did you come find me?”
“Oh, right.” Shen Xi remembered her original purpose. “It’s time to eat.”
“Wow, this looks great!”
“It looks so good, Mom!”
“I’m suddenly hungry, haha.”
“We’re so lucky to have Mom to cook amazing food!”
Wang Guizheng preened at the praise from her four children. “Heh, Mom’s cooking is the best, right?”
Shen Guowu nodded approvingly. “Mm, not bad.”
On the table were three delicious dishes: blood cube soup, blood broth, and cold sliced blood. There was also a steaming teapot of blood to enjoy along with their meal. And of course, at each place was a bowl of delicious, fluffy white rice.
“Alright, alright.” Wang Guizheng waved her hand. “If it looks so good, then hurry up and eat!”
The family of six dug in. Sounds of enjoyment filled the air. Halfway through the meal, after swallowing a bite of blood-soaked rice, Shen Yuan abruptly spoke up.
“I want to go to school.” Everyone turned their heads to stare at him. He clarified, “Human school.”
Everyone continued to stare at him. Shen Guowu said with a chuckle, “A-Yuan, why are you thinking of this all of a sudden? We’ve always been separate from humans. You know this is the way it is.”
“For good reason,” Wang Guizheng added. “It would be a disaster if humans and vampires mixed!”
“Have your foolish novels rotted your brain?” Shen Jun demanded.
Shen Xi slapped her hands on the table. “Humans are vicious! Do you want to end up like Chen Naihua?!”
“Ah? You’re speaking nonsense, how am I anything like Chen Naihua?” Shen Yuan huffed at his sister and turned back to the rest of his family. “I want to learn more about human culture. How can I become a wise ancient vampire if I spend my entire life hidden away in this estate? And besides, it won’t be ‘humans and vampires mixing’; it’ll just be me. And I’ll disguise myself so that no one will ever find out that I’m not human.”
Shen Yu, the eldest, spoke up. “Dad, Mom, why don’t you consider it? Other than Dad and me, A-Yuan is the one who knows the most about humans. Besides, most of the humans he would encounter at school will be young and weak. I’m sure he’d be fine.”
The Shen parents were always easily swayed by their reliable eldest son. “Hmm.” Shen Guowu set down his chopsticks and stroked his chin. “You make some good points. Perhaps… just one year wouldn’t be bad.”
Wang Guizheng pursed her lips nervously. “Right, right. I suppose A-Yuan can just kill any humans who threaten him or discover the truth.”
“That won’t happen!” Shen Yuan yelped.
Shen Jun snorted. “Let’s hope it doesn’t.”
Idle chatter filled the classroom as thirty teenagers caught up with one another after the weekend. Shen Jiu sat in the corner, avoiding eye contact with any of the other students as he unpacked his school supplies. The other seat at his desk remained empty.
“Everyone, I have an announcement to make,” said Pan-laoshi instead of starting class in the same monotonous way he always did. He cleared his throat and motioned to the person beside him. “We have a new student joining us a bit late in the term. Please welcome Shen Yuan as your classmate.”
Shen Yuan was a pale, slender boy with ink-dark hair that fell softly over the tips of his ears. He looked somewhat young for a third year, but not unusually so. What was unusual, however, was that he was wearing sunglasses indoors.
Though it was impossible to see his eyes, his head moved visibly as he swept his gaze over the room. When he glanced in Shen Jiu’s direction, Shen Jiu felt an unexpected chill tingle down his spine. What was the matter with this boy?
Pan-laoshi wrung his hands. “Ah, Shen Yuan, why don’t you take a seat by Shen Jiu in the back? He’s also new to our school this year.”
Shen Jiu hid a scowl. He’d been perfectly happy to have an empty seat next to him; he didn’t need any distractions. After all, his purpose here wasn’t to make friends or get a good score on the gaokao. It was to prove himself.
At the teacher’s direction, Shen Yuan walked towards Shen Jiu. His movements had an ominous, unnatural grace to them, like a panther hunting its prey. Shen Jiu reflexively tensed—a stupid reaction, because if anyone in this school was a hunter, it was him.
“Hi, I’m Shen Yuan.” He sat down and held out a hand as if for Shen Jiu to shake, which was incredibly odd seeing as how they were right next to each other, and also who did that? Had he watched too many business dramas?
Shen Jiu ignored the hand. “Shen Jiu,” he said curtly, and turned back to his notebook. He hoped this weirdo would leave him alone so that he could focus on his true goal: hunting down a vampire.
… Wait.
Shen Jiu cast a sideways glance at his tablemate, who still hadn’t taken off his sunglasses. Who had extremely, deathly pale skin and a predatory grace to his movements.
Noticing his gaze, Shen Yuan smiled—lips remaining tightly closed. “Hm? What is it?”
When the teacher dismissed them for lunch, Shen Yuan was still frantically trying to finish his page of notes. The other students didn’t even have the hand speed of a vampire; how did they keep up? Shen Yuan glared at the blackboard. A book would never move on before you were ready…
There was movement in the corner of Shen Yuan’s eye, past the edge of his sunglasses—his pretty deskmate Shen Jiu leaning over to hiss in Shen Yuan’s ear: “You. Come with me.”
Shen Yuan froze. He could feel Shen Jiu’s breath, warm and human as it brushed the shell of his ear. “Ah—okay,” he managed to say.
As he followed Shen Jiu out of the room and down the hallway, he had to firmly control his expression. Only his first day at human school, and such a good-looking, surely popular student already wanted to socially interact with him! This was the start to a great year.
Shen Jiu led Shen Yuan outside, striding with purpose down pathways and around corners until he reached a small, secluded space behind the building. There was nothing here but a bike rack, empty of bikes, and a single cherry tree casting loose petals down towards the pavement. Sunlight filtered through the boughs of the tree, falling in dappled waves of white gold across their faces.
Realization hit Shen Yuan. A sudden request to meet, a quiet and secluded spot, a flowering cherry tree—weren’t these the hallmarks of a classic high school confession scene?!
Shen Jiu was gazing silently at him, eyes dark and intense. His shoulders looked tight. Nerves?
Well, Shen Yuan would spare him the uncertainty. “I accept,” he said breathlessly.
Shen Jiu’s brows furrowed. “What?”
“I accept,” Shen Yuan repeated. He stepped forward, politely overlooking Shen Jiu’s flinch of surprise, and took Shen Jiu’s hand in his. Wow, humans sure did run warm! “You’re so pretty and kind, how could anyone refuse you? Yes, I’ll be your boyfriend!”
Shen Jiu seemed overwhelmed and speechless with shocked joy. Finally he muttered, “Kind?”
Ah, so he was one of the shy, insecure types who needed to constantly be reassured of their own worth and desirability. That fit well with his pretty face and slender stature. Of course, since Shen Yuan was several centimeters taller and a supernaturally strong vampire besides, he would be the reliable, handsome type who saved Shen Jiu from danger and reminded him that he was worthy of love.
Starting now. “Yes, kind,” Shen Yuan said earnestly. “I’m a new student, yet you’ve already accepted me as a classmate and even opened your heart to me. Only a truly kind hu—person would be so welcoming.”
Shen Jiu’s ears were brilliantly red, and a strange twitch had taken over his left eye. Human body language was so fascinating. “Right…”
Shen Yuan couldn’t believe he was so lucky. Ahh, now that they were dating, what should they do? Oh—of course: “Shen Jiu, let’s go on a date!”
Shen Jiu was certain of two things now, as Shen Yuan cradled his hand in his own icy and bloodless grasp.
One: Shen Yuan was, in fact, a vampire.
“No.” Shen Jiu tugged at his hand, trying to extract it from Shen Yuan’s grip. It was… extremely difficult, and Shen Jiu felt a frisson of nerves down his back at the reminder of exactly how much stronger than humans vampires were.
Shen Yuan frowned. “Why not?”
And two: Shen Yuan was, in fact, a total idiot.
“Because we’re at school,” Shen Jiu gritted out. And because you’re a vampire and I’m a vampire hunter, dumbass! If only he could reach the garlic sealed in his pocket…
Shen Yuan perked up. “Then, what about after school?”
Shen Jiu opened his mouth to refuse on reflex, but cut himself off. This could be the perfect opportunity. He could play along, pretend to be in a relationship with Shen Yuan, go on ‘dates’ with him—and on one of those dates, kill him and bring his body to Wu Yanzi. Create a solid enough image of a sweet, infatuated couple and no one would suspect him when Shen Yuan suddenly disappeared.
He slowly looked up and met Shen Yuan’s gaze. This close, he could see Shen Yuan’s bright and earnest eyes even through the dark sunglasses.
“Alright then,” Shen Jiu said softly. “Let’s go on a date.”
Shen Yuan couldn’t stop smiling. Only his first day at human school, and he already had a cute boyfriend. Yes, this was surely the start to a wonderful year!