"Come on," Riki whined from through the door. "I'm hungry, how kind does it take you two to get ready? I'm about to teleport in there."

Next to me, Jungwon crunched his fingers.

"So... perhaps something happened while you two were playing in the ocean...?" Sunghoon questioned as we ate our dinner.

All around him, the members groaned and threw accusing glares and complaints at him as they dramatically set their silverware down, shaking their heads in disappointment. I glanced to the side in embarrassment and took a sip out of my glass as Sunghoon threw his hands up in defeat while spewing out apologies.

"Why would you even ask that?" Jake scolded Sunghoon as the latter only gave a sheepish smile instead.

"Yeah, even I knew to keep my mouth shut this time." Riki tsked, repeatedly pointing his fork at Sunghoon.

"It's alright, guys," Jungwon broke in beside me before an argument could erupt, placing a piece of food into his mouth. "It wasn't that important."

The other boys nodded, continuing on into their conversations prior to Sunghoon blurting out his question. However, I felt Sunoo's eyes quickly flashing my way to see my reaction to Jungwon's comment, sympathy brewing in his eyes.

In complete honesty, I was confused. I was confused by both my own feelings and his feelings. That didn't change my initial reaction to his words, though.

To put it simply, I was hurt.

I quietly looked down at my plate, subconsciously tightening my grip on my fork.

Was it really not that important to him? Honestly, it wouldn't be a huge surprise if that was the case. Jungwon was the crown prince, for crying out loud, so he's bound to have had some pursuers and possibly even a few relationships. Perhaps he regretted his actions. A meager kiss with a human girl shouldn't have a huge effect on him.

That didn't change the fact that it had a large effect on me, though.

That was my first kiss, from someone who was basically my first everything. My first friend out of the farm, my first semi-romantic relationship, the first person that I'd ponder what my future would be with.

So, yes. I was deeply affected by what he had said, by how easily he was able to dismiss it.

But, then why would be give me so many soft glances? Why did he seem happy after we had kissed? Why does he, even now, continue to show small acts of kindness and how he cares about me? Was I just overreacting? So many questions, too little room in my head.

I shoved a piece of shrimp into my mouth.

Jungwon turned to me, caught off guard by my aggressive actions. "Dayum." He commented.

I was tempted - so tempted - to snap at him. But as I turned to him, taking in his twinkling eyes and fond smile on his lips, the crude words died on my lips. I just couldn't get them out.

The effect Yang Jungwon had on me.

I resorted to shooting him a forced smile before turning and looking at the scene in front of me. We were sitting on a long table, the side of it facing the ocean so no one's back was towards the sea. Everyone was engaging in some type of conversation, laughter ringing out every few seconds. The sun was rising next to us, signaling the end of the vampire day and illuminating a beautiful glow of a mix between purple and pink over the glittering ocean.

Shortly after we finished the dessert the waitresses brought out to us, we took one last stroll on the beach as a group for the day since our villas were in that direction.

Niki and Heeseung were far ahead of us, splashing around in the water, Niki's low laughter and Heeseung's small giggles echoing out through the night air. I smiled softly at that, watching as Heeseung chased Niki around, recalling what he had told me earlier.

"The other princes and I try to play with Niki as often as we can," Heeseung had said with a fond smile on his face. "None of us had a proper childhood due to our duties, so we want to make sure his doesn't get stolen too."

I admired the love everyone had for each other, maybe even envying it at times.

By now, we had passed by all of the members' houses, so they had all returned into their respective rooms. It was just Jungwon and I now.

We walked side by side, shoulders occasionally bumping into each other. This is the first time I've ever felt a pressing, frustrated feeling restricting my chest when I've been with him. I tried to push the feelings away, though, as it was obvious Jungwon didn't feel the same by the content smile plastered on his face.

However, I couldn't keep the act up as soon as I felt a hand gently make its way into mine.

I snatched my hand away with a guilty look in my eyes, surprising Jungwon. Confusion clouded his eyes as I stopped walking and took a small step away from him.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that without your permission-"

"Jungwon, what are we?" I cut him off.

It's obvious the question had taken him back, as he abruptly closed his mouth and let his hand fall back to his side. We were just standing there, facing each other as the lamps illuminated our faces.

He swallowed. "Well, we're friends, aren't we?"

"Friends?" I echoed back.

He awkwardly chuckled. "I mean, yeah? Right? I'd even say pretty close friends."

I let out a shaky breath, blinking profusely to try and stop tears from forming in my eyes. I clenched one of my fists, looking down at the sand underneath my feet.

He widened his eyes at the sight of my actions, becoming worried. "Whoa, are you okay?"

I momentarily closed my eyes before looking back at him, feeling my heart clench at the genuinely innocent look on his face. However, that wouldn't stop me from answering honestly. I wouldn't lie. Not to him.

"No," I whispered. "You're confusing me, Won."

Jungwon raised a hand to hold my arms, looking deep into my eyes with concern. "Yumin, what's going on?"

Again, I snatched my arm back to my side as if scalded by a hot object.

"This." I said, gesturing towards his raised hand. I spoke to him in a calm voice, neither angry nor loud. I was genuinely not angry, just confused.

"You can't possibly expect me to just think of you as a friend, when you do all of these kind actions and stolen touches. Do you think I can just dismiss everything, when you hold me at night and kiss me at day? To think of you as just a friend? What kind of friends just casually kiss each other?" I sputtered out, stumbling on my words.

I swallowed, peering into his wide eyes, begging him to understand. "And the worst thing about it is, I can tell you aren't trying to hurt me intentially. I know your intentions are good. I'm just so confused."

I raised a finger and pointed it at his chest. "I just can't tell whether it's this that's controlling your actions," I then brought my finger up to his head. "Or this."

We stood there, peering into each other's eyes. While I was ranting, I had failed to notice how close I stepped to him. We were now less than a foot apart. I could practically see the thoughts racing in his head as he tried to process the information I had given him.

Finally, Jungwon gently brought his hand up to take my hand into his. This time, I didn't shy out of his touch as I finally calmed and sorted out my thoughts.

"This is all my fault." He started. "I shouldn't have just thrown all of these actions at you and expected you to understand everything without any explanation. That was my mistake, and I'll make sure not to do that again."

Jungwon let a small smile form on his lips. "Because, believe me, I have never been in a romantic relationship before."

I widened my eyes, not believing the news.

"So, honestly, it took me a while to pinpoint my exact feelings since I've never experienced them before." He tightened his grip on my hand, a determined look in his eyes. "But now I'm sure of it:"

"Yumin, I think I'm falling for you, hard."

A/N: long chapter bc i didn't get a chance to update yesterday :)

And you might be thinking: Serina, can you not just let the characters of the Predicted Universe live in peace without some type of conflict for a few chapters?

And my answer is, no. I like some extra bedazz so nothing gets repeated and boring, you feel me? DKKSKSKSOS

Anyways, ty to everyone for reading <33