Shane hated how casually Park Jihoon talked to him. Like he was his friend. He'd fallen into the casual speech of banmal without Shane's permission. He wondered if he even realized it. But more important, he wasn't sure why he hadn't put an end to it.
he was already in a bad mood and now he was waiting in the seemingly unending line for lunch. he'd dawdled too long in the classroom after the bell rang. HIs old class was half the size of this one, so he'd forgotten how intense the lunch rush could be in the overcrowded Seoul schools.
Shane tried his best to ignore the few students who whispered about him. he was an expert at ignoring stares and gossip. But his hearing was so good that it caught a few words, and she noticed that his name was continuously paired with Park Jihoon. It seemed Kim Daniel's friends hadn't liked his stunt with the headphones. They thought Jihoon had acted too friendly. And the rumors of them dating spread like wildfire.
It worried him. These rumors garnered too much attention. But it was also a departure from some of the harsher rumors he was used to hearing. Ones that called himIce King.
As the kids jostled around him in line, one of them bumped Shane's shoulder. The contact brought with it the taste of something bright, as if electricity raced along his skin and strengthened her muscles.
he hadn't even realized they were aching until she felt this rush of energy. It was the student's soul. Young and fresh and there for the taking. Shane almost turned, almost grabbed the boy. His hands had reached halfway toward him before he stopped herself.
Instead he gripped her palms together so tightly his fingernails dug into skin.
A hunger protested from deep inside. he closed her eyes and took three deep breaths. It was never this bad this soon after her last kill. Shane's instincts as the king of hell was taking over him; leaving him hungering for more.
Jihoon had to be killed.
he finally reached the front of the line and took one of the metal trays, glad for something to fill her hands. The lunch staff filled each compartment in the tray with food: steaming rice, miyeokguk with its cloudy broth, bright red kimchi, and savory meat. The students seemed particularly excited about the fact that they had meat today.
he could practically taste the excitement in the air. It made his stomach rumble for something other than food.
he exited the line, eager to escape to some dark corner, but the room was packed, barely a seat available. No matter where she sat he'd be squeezed between groups of kids.
Then he spotted Jihoon and his friends. Park Minjae was a prickly seatmate, but at least he left Shane alone.Even though he was an irritating half brother, Minjae did his part very well. And Kang Seojun was a nervous, bumbling boy, but he was always polite to Shane. Shane sighed and walked to their table.
" . . . think it's cool they're dating," Seojunwas saying.
"That's just because you want to ogle him up close." Minjae stabbed His chopsticks into a fish cake so hard they clanged against the metal lunch tray.
"Ogle who?" Shane asked, though he knew the answer.
Jihoon glanced up. Seojun Froze beside him.
"What are you doing here?" Minjae refused to meet Shane's eyes.
"There's nowhere else to sit," was Shane's Only reply as he took the empty seat.
"How are you liking our school, Shane-ssi?" Seojun stuttered out, his cheeks burning red.
"It's fine."
"Usually people ask permission to sit," Minjae said.
"Why do I need to ask when no one was using this seat?" Shane asked, taking a calm bite of rice.
Minjae flushed, his cheeks puffing out as if his anger gathered there. But Shane knew it was all an act.
"Shane-ah, didn't you want to see where the kids play soccer during lunch?" Jihoon blurted out, pulling Shane's attention to him.
His eyes were wide as they watched her.
Shane wondered if he knew what he'd been thinking and guilt tightened his chest. "Sure," he said, accepting his offer of escape.
he dropped her utensils on her tray and stood. Perhaps his steps were a little too fast to be casual. Perhaps he let her tray drop in the discard pile a little too loudly. But Shane needed to get out of the room, filled with souls and temptation. he could barely breathe for wanting all that delicious energy.
The hallway was blissfully empty, and he took in gulping breaths of air.
Jihoon left the cafeteria behind her.
"I wasn't going to do anything to him," Shane said as they walked.
For some reason Shane needed him to know that. He needed him to believe it.
"What makes you think I was afraid for minjae? He has a fierce right hook and se's the ace in this school. Never lost a fight."
Shane's eyes darted to take in the hallway, searching for anyone who might be close enough to hear, but it was empty.
"Be careful how you speak to me," he said through gritted teeth. "If we weren't in school, you wouldn't be standing right now."
"I never thought I'd be so grateful to be in school," Jihoon muttered, pushing open a door.
"Where are you going?"
"I told minjae and Seojun we were going to the soccer field."
"I thought that was a lie to get me to leave your friends alone."
"I don't like to lie if I don't have to," Jihoon said.
"You said I wanted to see the fields," he pointed out. "That was a lie."
"Well, now it's only a half lie." Jihoon pulled hioutside. Shane's muscles clenched beneath his touch. Never had someone so casually touched him like Jihoon did. Not even his mother. His skin was too sensitive from his gnawing hunger, and it made tingles race up his arm.
He could just as well pull out his normal form and then kill Jihoon. But then again, the problem of being in broad daylight.
Pulling free, he took a few steps toward the field below where a dozen boys and girls ran across the grass in a game of soccer. "How do they have enough time to eat and play?"
"They don't. They usually skip lunch so they'll have enough time for a game."
"Why would they do that for something so trivial?"
"To them it's not." Jihoon shrugged as he watched the game, too. "When something's important to you, you're willing to give up a lot for it. This is the only time they have to play."
"I don't understand why kids go through so much effort for such things," Shane remarked. "What will it help them gain?"
"It's not to gain anything." Jihoon laughed. "It's just for fun. Sometimes you need to stop thinking so hard about what you get out of life and have fun."
"Fun is a human luxury,"
"Not human, humane. Moments of hesitation make us humane." Jihoon's words were quiet, but they struck deep.
because he reminded Shane that he wasn't humane.
"I didn't realize we could come out here for lunch," Shane said. It was a good place to get away from the suffocating crowd of the cafeteria.
"It's getting cold," Jihoon said, glancing at the blazing sun overhead.
"That doesn't affect me," SHane shrugged.
"Really?" Jihoon asked, fascination too clear in his voice. Shane wasn't used to someone being so blatantly interested in her.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked, unable to keep the frustration out of his voice.
"Standing here?"
Shane sucked in a breath, holding it before she said something he'd regret. "Why do you insist on acting out this charade of fake friendship?"
Jihoon's brows knit. "It's not fake. We are friends."
"I don't make a good friend."
Jihoon let out a chuckle. "Well, I'm okay with having a bad friend. So I guess we agreed." He walked back inside, and he held in a scream of frustration.
"What does that even mean?" he called after him.
He didn't look back and just lifted a hand in a friendly wave as the bell rang for class.
"Arrgh" Shane ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He couldn't just find a way of killing Jihoon.