The plans had changed. Elena pulls up the motel, cringing at its rough exterior. The parking lot is in rough shape; potholes goug the asphalt and weeds tried desperately to grow in the freed-up pits of the earth. She swears a rat scurries under the pried open hood of a lifted pickup and comes back out with what looks like a hot dog. Flies swarm the hood and Elena makes a promise to not go anywhere near that truck.
It's a small parking lot and she spots Yeona and Stefan just as she's parking. The two immortals sit on the back of Yeona's convertible, Yeona's legs kicking back and forth like a child's. She'd been expecting them to be silent, or at least for an awkward air to hang over them. Yeona hadn't seemed to keen on Stefan back at the carnival, and she knows for a fact that Yeona loved to play with people she didn't like.
Cruel pranks that targeted Mayor Lockwood back in his college days flashed through Elena's mind. Yeona, who howled with laughter as she ran from the scene, having just spilled gallons of pig's blood onto the young Richard just as he'd asked for a date rather sleazily from an underaged Jenna. It makes sense now, how she'd her little 'Carrie' moment off so last minute.
Yeona had a secret mean streak and Elena had honestly been worried that she'd play a trick on Stefan. But no, the two of them were chatting away. Stefan's posture was easy, his green eyes light as Yeona told him a tale or two of her own college exploits. Yeona herself was gesturing wildly, a wide grin on her face.
"I'm glad to see you two are getting along," Elena admits as she gets out of her car. Stefan looks up and meets her halfway from her parking spot, the two of them sharing a tender kiss. Yeona makes an 'awww' noise from the background, right before loudly gagging until they pull away.
"Really?" Elena asks.
"If I, as your former babysitter and now mentor figure- hey, stop laughing!- can't annoy you at least a little, then I'm doing something wrong."
"I'll concede to that. You said you have something to show me?"
Yeona jumps off the car, her smile looking less sure. "Follow me. It's in my motel room. Don't touch anything in the closet unless I personally hand it to you, alright?"
Elena and Stefan share a look but nods.
Yeona's motel room is not much better off than the parking lot. It's at least cleaner, though that's the bare minimum in a motel. A single double bed sits against the wall in the middle of the room, right across a vanity with chipped paint. On top of it rested an old TV, a rerun of Charmed playing on its staticy screen.
"I'd say kick your shoes off at the door, but this place is kind of a dump," Yeona says, exchanging her boots for a pair of soft slippers.
Elena almost trips over the pile of shoes by the door, only for Stefan to catch her.
"Easy there," He murmurs, pressing a kiss to her temple.
With a rusted bathroom and moth-eaten curtains, Elena wonders how Yeona feels living here. The Skype tour of the house Yeona bought back in Korea had been a total one-eighty from this place. It'd been a recently renovated home of decent size with a lush garden in the backyard that Yeona and Se-Hun had spent most of their weekend mornings taking care of. It's jarring to see her stand next to the dated floral wallpaper, ignoring it as it peels right in front of their eyes.
Elena watches as Yeona bypasses the bed, tossing her bag onto the bed to rummage around in the sliding closet. Her eyes go wide as she takes in the contents residing in the closet. A mixture of ancient looking objects, art supplies, and odd plants takes up most of the space. From neon-blue leaves to whispering lilies that turn blush pink with a brush of Yeona's fingers; a wonderland of strange greenery nearly hides a small weeping tree. Its leaves droop to the ground, burdened by the weight of a dozen candy red apples growing from it.
Yeona plucks an apple from its foliage and tosses it to Elena, who just barely manages to catch it, shutting the door closed and cutting off the whispers from earlier.
Golden dew stains Elena's palm as she peers at the fruit, her mouth-watering as a parade of familiar scents wafts into her nose. "What is this?"
"It's an Apple of Eve. Or an Apple of Truth, whatever floats your boat. I'm not sure if you'll believe what I tell you next, so that's my insurance plan."
"Apple of Eve? Like from the bible?" Stefan asks, brows furrowing.
"Exactly like the bible. Nobody is sure how much of the bible is true, given the different versions of it over the centuries, but the serpent and the apple are both real things." Yeona sighs, leaning against the mirrored closet.
"Why does it smell like my dad's cobbler?" Elena chokes up, tears springing to her eyes. "And my mom's sweater. It smells just like her favorite sweater."
Yeona smiles kindly and shrugs. "It's meant to smell like whatever a human misses most to draw them in. To me and Stefan, it smells like bleach."
"Is that where that smell is coming from? I thought it was from the cleaning products," Stefan's nose wrinkles. "Are you sure this is safe?"
"It can't harm her, as long as she only takes one bite. You may have to stop her. It really depends on if she has a purely human lineage or not. The apple doesn't take kindly to supernatural creatures who eat from it. It thinks us to be greedy enough."
Elena turns the apple over in her hand. "I don't want to eat it if it might kill me."
"It won't kill you. It might make you a little high, but the Apple of Eve only kills men. You'll be fine, I promise."
"What will eating it prove? You still haven't told me that."
Yeona stands up straight, her hand fiddling with the thick leather bracelet that covered her right wrist. It comes off easily, revealing a birthmark in the form of a perfect circle. Elena gasps. She's seen the same mark on Stefan's wrist a few times, though his was black as if lined with ink. Turning to the vampire at her side, she raises a brow.
"You have a mark just like this on your wrist," Stefan explains. Seeing the confusion on her face, he rushes on, "Sheila had hidden it when you were a child after someone came looking for you."
Her blood runs cold.
"But why would somebody look for me?" Elena asks with a slight tremble in her hands.
"I'm not sure, 'Lena. I don't have any solid answers for you, but from what Stefan and Damon have said about Katherine, it might be because of her. You looking exactly like her isn't a normal occurrence in humans, but you aren't a Fae, so you can't be a changeling."
"Faeries exist too? Of course they do, of course. And of course this somehow comes back to Katherine," Elena feels the weight of her own bitterness, her nails making crescent moons as they dig into the flesh of the apple.
"It could also be related to your mark," Yeona hesitates, a frown twisting on her face. "My mother and Sheila both have said this mark is related to a great evil. So far, they've been wrong. Other than that, nobody really knows what they mean. Take a bite and see for yourself."
Elena looks to Stefan, who is already looking back at her. He's smiling as he nods but his eyes scream with worry, a look she has gotten used to seeing on his face. Elena takes a deep breath in, lifting the apple to rest it at the seam of her lips.
She takes a hefty bite.
Immediately, her world fills with color. Shades that she's never seen before exploding like fireworks across the room, chasing away shadowed beings whose voices sound like they are deep underwater. Glowing green algae grows over the closet door, pulsating like a heartbeat.
Her eyes flicker to her wrist. Where normal skin once was, Elena can see a birthmark that looks just like Yeonas. A thread of disappointment pulls at her. She'd secretly been hoping it would match Stefan's, that the idea of the three of them being tied to some secret evil was nothing but a terrible lie. The romantic in her hand hoped it'd meant something more.
"It's here. It's just like yours, Yeona."
She turns to look at the vampire in question, startled to see Stefan's vampiric face showing. Her fingertips reach out to brush along the skin beneath his eyes. It felt as smooth as always, despite the clear black veins that should be protruding there.
"I can see you're veins and eyes," Elena whispers. "But your other face isn't showing, is it?"
Stefan puts a hand over hers, leaning into her palm as it settles on his cheek. "No, it's not."
"That's because you are seeing us as we really are. What we show the rest of the world is a beautiful lie."
A claw-tipped hand plucks the apple from Elena's grip and Elena's gaze follows it. Yeona, or a creature Elena thinks to be Yeona, stood back and crushed the apple in her grip. A shallow scream rings in Elena's head and she covers her ears with a wince.
"Sorry, should have warned you. If I hadn't crushed it, it might start lurking in your thoughts and you might end up taking another bite. Too many bites and this apple will turn anyone's brain to mush."
Elena lowered her hands, staring at Yeona in wonder. If Yeona were anyone else, she'd look almost…horrific. Grotesque. Even with their history between them, Elena feels her heart speed up in momentary fear. "You look..."
Yeona grins, her mouth full of razor-sharp teeth and her smile a touch too wide. Her ears that normally came to a gentle point, were larger and shaper, poking through Yeona's black hair. Red tufts of fur graced the tops of them, the same autumn shade flickering just out of Elena's eyesight behind Yeona's back. Yeona turns in a slow motion, letting Elena fully take her in. Two twin tails reveal themselves from the base of Yeona's back, sparks of blue electricity playfully running across them like children playing tag.
They were long enough to brush the ground when Yeona walks. It's then that Elena realizes something is wrong with Yeona's legs. No longer streamlined, a set of digitigrade legs holds Yeona up. Yeona brings a foot out of her slipper to wiggle padded feet tipped with claws at her.
"You have fox feet!" Elena says, thrilled.
Yeona snorts. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I know I look strange."
"How can you keep your tails hidden?"
"You have tails? As in, plural?" Stefan asks incredulously.
"Two of them!"
"Think of the world like…an onion. There are many layers to it. We are on layer one, they are on layer three. To get to us, they'd have to pass two layers which they aren't capable of without help from someone on our side. My true form rests in layer two and I can bring it to the layer we exist on if I want to. But most people…freak out when they see what I really look like."
Elena could never admit it, would never admit it. But she could see why people would be terrified. Yeona looked like a twisted fairytale monster, her glowing blue eyes, and wicked fanged smile any human child's nightmare. It hurt regardless, to know that Yeona had to keep herself hidden.
"Where did you even find that?" Stefan asks. His gaze is on the apple, wariness wrinkling his forehead.
"My best friend Se-Hun collected odd objects. His favorite words were 'retail therapy', and everyone down in Lùbach Carobh knew it. They got him to buy random crap all the time."
"The what?"
"Hollow Tree. It's a Faerie club on a forgotten alley in a place you can't reach on foot. Like any club, there are dealers there. Most ley lines or faerie circles let you blip over to the front entrance. He got it on sale from a couple of Greenfingers for only one of his fangs and a jar of Dokkaebi blood."
"I'm assuming that Faeries aren't like Tinkerbell," Elena said, kind of bummed about the fact.
"Nope. Never step into a mushroom circle and if you ever smell Hyacinths and rot, leave the area immediately. We should get her home, and let her sleep this off. It'll wear off by the morning but sleep will speed up the process."
"There's an entire world I don't know. It's a lot to take in."
Stefan reassures his girlfriend, rubbing her shoulder. "Until yesterday, I didn't know anything about Kumihos. Now I know about Faeries and magic truth-telling apples. I'm right there with you and I'm almost two hundred years old. How come you know so much, Yeona?"
If possible, Yeona's too large grin only got bigger. "Kumihos are one of their most loved consumers. And," She drops her voice in a mock whisper, "We are their biggest suppliers for meat."
It's warm out, the afternoon filled with the screaming of cicadas and people mowing their front lawns. Yeona shuts the door to her convertible, gripping the bottleneck of her offering. Blackberry wine, something sent from one of her 'cousin's' vineyards here in the states as a housewarming gift. They would probably be horrified to learn of the shitty motel she's living out of.
Days like this are when she misses her family the most. Back in Korea, she'd be at the Kumiho compound, her Charm filling her summer days with laughter and delicious foods. Her nights would be full of debauchery of the highest degree- fulfilling her baser hunger as she and her kin hopped from club to club. She misses the unity, the feeling of never really being alone.
But it's all gone now. Leaving it has cost her more than companionship- it has cost her everything. Her home, her income. It'll always be there if she goes back but Yeona could never go back.
She shifts her weight, stuck in her own little world, only passively taking in the Gilbert's house. Like Caroline's, it hasn't changed much. The wrap-around porch offers her some reprieve from the hot summer sun, but there is a mugginess to the air that she just knows its making her hair frizz. Frantic footsteps can be heard from inside, along with Jenna's classic sailor mouth cursing up a storm. Caroline and Elena murmur back and forth, surely trying to stay out of Jenna's way.
Done with her pity party, Yeona bucks up and knocks on the door. Jenna is counting on her to act as a buffer to a certain Mr. Salvatore, for he apparently is coming to the party and is apparently on her shit list. Go figure. The door opens up to a relieved Jenna, who immediately pulls her into a hug.
"Thank God you're here. If Damon got here before you, I might have strangled him. Look at you! Ugh, I've missed your face."
"You're a sight for sore eyes, Jen. I've missed your face too." Yeona breathes her friend in.
Jenna looks just as beautiful as always, her long strawberry blonde hair shining copper under the light of the Virgina sun. Her vine green eyes brought back so many of the two getting ready before high school parties, putting makeup on each other's faces, and blasting the radio before meeting up with Mason to party the night away. Things were so much easier when she, Jenna, and Mason could just party their troubles away.
"Oh, good, you've brought alcohol. We'll be needing it." Jenna pulls back, taking the wine from Yeona's hands with a smirk.
The wine almost drops from Jenna's grip when a honk startles them both. Immediately, Yeona whips her head around to see who dared to honk at them. A grinning Mason Lockwood waves from his car, the window rolled down and letting the foul scent of animal drift out. She has to hold back an actual gag.
Jenna gives her an odd look but ultimately ignores Yeona's reaction to wave Mason in. The closer he gets, the more Yeona feels the urge to run. His nose wrinkles when he's just a few feet in front of her and she knows then that he smells her too. For a moment, Yeona swears his normally grey eyes shine yellow.
"Is that a new perfume? It's too much," Mason sneezes. "It's like rotting fruit or something. It's awful, Yeons."
Yeona tenses before forcing a smile. "Says you. What's that I smell?" She takes an exaggerated sniff. "I think it's wet do-"
"Mason, I get you're a guy and you don't think, but never, ever tell a girl her perfume smells bad," Caroline says sweetly, popping up next to Yeona like she's been there all along.
Mason only shrugs. "Fair enough. Sorry, Yeons, that was rude of me. Come here!"
Like that, Yeona relaxes, letting Mason pull her and Jenna into a bear hug. Up close and personal the scent of the wolf is worse, but she makes herself breathe through her mouth as she hugs Mason back. Just like this, the Original Troublesome Trio is whole again and Yeona thinks she can pretend everything is perfectly normal.
"You were so wasted, I thought the cops were going to catch us for sure," Jenna doubles over with her laughter. "Your dad was so mad!"
"You and Yeona just took off running without telling me we'd been caught! I had to hide under the bleachers until they left the football field."
"Um, I told you repeatedly that the cops were there. You just ignored me because Lacey Fell's shirt got soaked through when the keg broke. Perv." Yeona teases and Jenna laughs harder, her knees knocking together as she holds onto her ribs.
"I'll have you know I only had gentlemanly intentions," Mason holds his hands up in mock innocence. "I only looked because you told me she had her nipples pierced on spring break."
"She's a Fell! Of course, she didn't have her nipples pierced, you doofus. Sometimes I forgot how you got into college." Jenna says.
"We can't all be an academic genius, now can we Yeona? Jen just had to somehow manage good grades while being the biggest party animal we know."
"I did kind of soar through college classes too," Jenna doesn't hide the smug smile on her face, shrugging. "Until you know…life happened."
The three of them go silent. Jenna's life flipped upside down in one night, something none of them can forget. At twenty-five going on to twenty-six, Jenna should be finishing up her grad thesis and worrying over student loans. But now she's taking care of two teenagers, all because the car her sister and brother-in-law were in went into a lake. Now her nephew was isolating himself and doing drugs, while her niece who was also in that damned car, was spiraling deeper and deeper into supernatural danger.
There will be a time when Yeona shares everything she knows with Jenna. There has to be if Jenna is going to have any chance of keeping her family together. Luckily, they are able to shake off the grey clouds that have settled over them when the doorbell rings. Jenna brightens, making a beeline for the door. An unfamiliar man's voice says his hellos, followed by the wet sounds of kissing.
Both Yeona and Mason look at each other and roll their eyes.
"Mason, Yeona, this is Alaric," Jenna says, leading Alaric into the kitchen by the hand.
Alaric is a a tall man with sandy blonde hair, the kind that Yeona has to dive deep into her childhood memories to recall. Distant recollections of stormy beaches and men with the same exact shade of blonde hair as Alaric running past as they'd clutched their surfboards, slams into her. It's hard to smile at him when she remembers how wild the wind and waves had been as she stood still, the salt of her tears replaced by the ocean's spray, her father's shouts as he sprinted across the sand toward her.
That had been the first storm she'd caused and the last time she'd ever seen her father.
He has a kind smile, just like her father too. "It's nice to finally meet you both."
Alaric's hand is warm as it gently grips hers. Though he does not smell like her father nor looks anything like him, Yeona's eyes mist over him anyways. She blinks them away before she can cause any discomfort, giving him her widest smile.
"It's nice to meet you too. You must be the history teacher."
"Nice to meet you man, I'm Mason Lockwood." Mason grins, the cute gap between his front teeth making their infamous appearance as he takes Alaric in.
They do some kind of weird bro handshake, acting like they've known each other for years and not just met. It's Yeona and Jenna's turnt to share an eye roll. Mason is easy company, asking all the right questions for Alaric to get talking about himself. It's definitely some kind of Lockwood charm, though gentler and more genuine than his elder brother's methods. A knock on the door interrupts them and Yeona mentally groans.
"I think Damon's here," Yeona murmurs to Jenna. Jenna only gives a begrudged sigh, letting go of Alaric's arm to go to the front door.
"I'll go with her," Mason says, brows furrowing as he looks at Jenna's tense posture.
They disappear around the corner and Yeona turns back to Alaric, who is already looking at her. He gives her a guilty smile, opening up the wine bottle she'd brought and giving her a glass.
"I kind of invited Damon." He admits. "I thought if we all had a little get-together, things might settle down between him and Jenna."
"Why does she dislike him so much? I thought she didn't know."
"She doesn't. And with Elena resembling Katherine so much, the girl both he and Stefan loved…I guess there had been some kind of initial draw to her. I'm not really sure, I never understood their kind of love system."
'Their kind' was either in reference to vampires or to the Salvatores. Yeona had already understood that the brothers must have both had a thing for Katherine, but she hadn't expected it to be related to Elena. It should have crossed her mind but she'd been hoping for Elena's sake that Stefan only loved her for her. But the way they'd interacted, how Stefan hung onto every word Elena said like it was gospel, Yeona would hold onto that hope onto proven otherwise.
"I've heard great things about you," Mason's voice carries from the other room, as loud as he always is. Yeona shakes her head fondly, taking a sip of her wine. Maybe she really could get past the werewolf thing.
"That's weird. Cause I'm a dick." Damon says. Yeona snorts.
Jenna passes into the kitchen, carrying some kind of peach-related desert, tossing Yeona a look of disdain for their newest guest. She snickers. Damon comes waltzing in like he owns the place, his icy eyes locking onto her immediately. The smirk on his face only widens.
"Vixi, we meet again."
Mason retakes his place next to Yeona, his body still tense despite the smile he wears. "Let's get this party started, shall we?"
Because she's Jenna and she likes Yeona to suffer, she drags them all into a game of Pictionary. For the tenth time, Damon draws something wolf-related. Admittedly, she'd found it funny the first few times. Seeing Mason's irritation was always a secret pleasure of hers, but now it was just ridiculous.
"Ballerina!"
"Uh, puppy! Puppy with a tutu!"
"It's Dances with Wolves," Mason answers flatly, taking a swig of his beer. If he hadn't known about Damon, he will now.
"How is that a wolf?" Jenna asks incredulously.
"God, you're awful at this Damon. Draw something else."
"Oh yeah? Like what?" He passes the marker to her, cocking a thick black brow.
"Like this." She's not using her art skills to the best of their abilities but the smirking vampire-fighting off her doodle of Buffy looks remarkably like Damon. Except she makes him glitter. Damon scoffs.
"Twilight!" Jenna shouts, sure she's got it.
"Yeah, exactly." Yeona grins, tossing her the marker. "Good job Jen."
"Yes! Finally." Jenna pumps her fist.
"I think it's time for dessert. What about you guys?" Alaric says, shooting Damon and Yeona the perfect disappointed teacher look.
It surprises everyone when Damon offers to help Elena with the pie. What doesn't surprise her is when he comes back out, hands clutching a silver serving knife. Immediately, she knows what he's trying to pull and so does Mason. But instead of picking up the handle, Mason spins the pie tin and scoops up a slice with his hands. Damon's jaw clenches. The rolling of tires outside means the girls have made their grand escape, much to Yeona's dismay.
Of course, they had to leave her behind with this mess.
"Sorry, I'm an animal." He grin.
Yeona holds up a hand when Damon goes to serve her. "Sorry. Not a fan of peaches. My dad gave me some peach syrup as a kid to settle my stomach and I blew chunks everywhere. Now it's forbidden fruit."
"So, Mason, you and Jenna never dated?" Alaric is trying to distract everyone, but he just had to pick the worst question.
Yeona sinks into her seat, her face flushing.
"No," Mason chuckles. "She was lost in Logan Fell land."
"Oh, my first mistake of many. Mason was a catch, he had all the girls just lining up for him." The two share a fond smile.
"If anything, Yeona and Jenna were the ones that dated." Mason stuffs a piece of peach pie into his mouth, pointing at Yeona with a fork.
"Oh?" Damon's eyebrows shoot up. "What a twist."
"We didn't date," Yeona mumbles, kicking Mason under the table.
Jenna rubs Yeona's shoulder. "I would have been better off dating Yeona, but it just didn't pan out that way. Not that it matters," She's quick to say, looking at Yeona with kind eyes. "She's still one of my best friends."
"Ah, puppy love," Mason snickers.
"More like the plights of crushing of a straight girl," Yeona cracks a smile, hating how hot her face feels. It was still a sore subject.
A handful of tipsy kisses had grown more than just friendly affection in Yeona's heart. It's not like she'd intended for it to happen, but it was impossible to not fall for Jenna. But Jenna had realized that her affection for Yeona, no matter how strong, wasn't the same. It'd sucked at first, of course. But then Yeona had moved and the two had some distance to process it all.
Looking at Jenna now, she only felt fondness of the platonic kind. Strange how love can evolve if given the chance.
"Mason was always taken anyways," Jenna says teasingly.
"Really? I always pegged you as a sort of lone wolf." Damon says.
Mason tilts his head at Damon, studying him. His smile is tighter, his words edged. "Oh, I bet I wasn't half the lady killer you were."
Yeona chokes on her drink, startling everyone at the table. Jenna pats her back roughly, her face twisting with concern. Yeona forces herself to speak in between her hacking. "Sorry, It went down the wrong pipe."
"How about a toast," Mason says. He lifts his beer, making direct eye contact with Damon as his clinks it against Jenna's glass. "To new friends. Cheers."
The conversation carries on more easily after that. But she can't ignore the tense looks Damon and Mason keep sending each other when they think nobody is watching. Yeona grips the front of her seat and stretches her leg under the table, knocking her shoe into Damon's shin.
He looks at her with a smirk. "Playing footsie now, Vixi?" His voice is low enough that only she and Mason can hear, but Mason is wrapped up in conversation with Alaric over football while Jenna uses the restroom.
"Whatever you are planning, drop it." She whispers.
"I'm not planning anything," Damon says, all mock innocence and that same arrogant smile. "Not right now, anyway."
"How about Guitar Hero? I could use some music," Yeona says.
"Sure, but you can't get mas when I beat you," Jenna taunts, going into the hall closet to retrieve the mini fake guitars.
"Oh, you're on," Yeona grins. "You too, Ric. You're both going down."
"I'll take that challenge." Alaric tips the top of his beer towards her.
Mason gets up from his seat, ruffling Yeona's hair as he walks to the kitchen, his hands full of empty bottles. Knowing Damon is still in there, doing whatever it is that Damon does unsupervised, Yeona jumps up to follow him. Alaric gives her a knowing look, distracting Jenna while Yeona slips out of the room.
"Come on, Jenna's getting out Guitar Hero. Might be time to mutiny." The bottles make a clink as he settles them onto the island.
"Well, I just so happen to like Guitar Hero. So you, my friend, are barking up the wrong tree."
Yeona bites back a scoff, hiding out of sight in the hallway just in case it gets ugly. Damon's pouring some bourbon and her mouth waters, yearning for the drink. So that's why he smells like so strongly of bourbon- he must drink it often.
"Okay, enough with the innuendos. You win, you're hilarious."
"Thank you."
"Come on man, you think I don't know what this BBQ is about?"
"How do you know about me?" Damon's shoes squeak across the floor. "Your brother was clueless."
"I'm not your enemy Damon."
"You tried to kill Stefan."
Yeona slips soundlessly into the kitchen, catching Damon's eyes over Mason's shoulder. As the frantic air around Mason grows, the stronger his animal scent comes. A shudder raced down her back. Caroline had been with Stefan yesterday. Why hadn't he mentioned he'd run into Mason?
"That was a mistake!"
"Really?"
"There was too much confusion, I couldn't chain myself up in time. I have no control when I'm shifted."
"Ah, what, no obedience school?" Damon sneers.
"I'm serious. We don't need to spark some age-old feud that doesn't apply to us."
"Both of you, knock it off."
Mason turns to her, surprise lighting up his face. Trying not to gag on his scent in front of him, she edges around him, hovering close enough for Damon to reach out and touch her arm. Mason tracks the movement, eyes going hard.
"You know."
"I know." Yeona nods.
"You're not a vampire. But that smell..it's you, isn't it?" Mason asked. "The rotten berries?"
"She smells divine, thank you very much. And what, you want us to believe you are here in Mystic Falls for a peace treaty? Please." Damon says.
"Yeons. You know me. I just lost my brother. Tyler just lost his dad. I'm here for them."
He looks at her with those familiar eyes of his, and all she wants to do is tug on one of his curls like she used to. But as he speaks, his heart skips a beat. It's subtle, but audible. Mason wasn't tell her the total truth.
"Damon, just drop it. He's not going to hurt us. Right, Mas?" She asks.
"I wouldn't ever hurt you. Let us be better this this." Mason says earnestly. He offers Damon a hand and Yeona waits, hoping he doesn't slap it away.
Much to her relief, Damon takes Mason's hand and shakes it. Mason gives them both a node and backs out of the kitchen.
"You must really like me, coming in to protect me like that," Damon comments idly, tracing the rim of his glass with a finger.
Yeona cranes her head to look at him, giving him a sickly sweet smile. "I like you as much as I like coffee."
"You're always carrying that travel cup around. You must love me." He smirks.
Damon comes closer, standing near enough that she can feel the heat radiate off his body. It's a stolen warmth, one he's gained by the lives of others or by the dark magic that keeps him in his undead state, not unlike her own. Yeona notices his eyes flicker to her lips.
"It's tea." She says bluntly. Yeona forces herself to brush past him, going to the only place she thinks she can get privacy from him. The bathroom. She runs the faucet, splashing the cold water on her face and trying to regain her normal heart rate.
What about Damon gets under her skin? It's like his eyes have some kind of magic and every time she looks at them, all she can think about is coming closer. The part of her that is all animal bristles at the thought. Kumihos tended to stay away from vampires as to not compete for food as much, but every vampire she's met had been normal enough.
Even the hint of grave dirt that lingers on his skin doesn't bother her anymore. Her mouth waters as she recalls his bourbon laced scent, the need to sink her teeth into him and tear him apart until she could hide amongst his bones raising the hair on her arms. The last time she'd felt this kind of drive had been when she'd crushed on Jenna. But Yeona didn't know Damon enough to crush on him yet.
Yeona turns the water off, staring at herself in the mirror. She looks like she always does, no hint or whisper of a change apparent on her. But inside, she feels different.
Damon was dangerous, in more ways than one. And Yeona should try to stay away from him.
But then why did that thought sting so badly?
She comes back out of the bathroom, immediately noticing the lack of noise. Jenna and Alaric are cuddled up on the couch, his hand running through Jenna's hair.
"Oh hey! I thought you'd left." Jenna says.
"I was in the bathroom. Where did the other two go?" Yeona asks slowly, already not liking where this is going.
"Mason went to the bar and Damon went home." Alaric says. "Don't worry. I'm sure they are fine."
"Yeah, well, I'll believe that when I see it. Look I gotta go, I'll see you guys later." Yeona grabs her bag and keys, ignoring Jenna's questions and rushes out the door.
She gets into her car, noting that Damon had come on foot. He must have planned this from the start. Had Alaric just tried to lie to her, or had he naively thought Damon wasn't going to go after Mason after all? It's not hard to track their scents, her convertible racing down the dark streets, uncaring if she gets stopped by the police. She could just tempt them to shove off.
Mason really had gone for the bar, his dark head disappearing as he climbed into his truck. Damon stands there, very sparing her a glance when she pulls up. They both watch Mason drive off. Dark stains that reek of copper pool on the concrete sidewalk and Yeona stares out it as she gets out of her car.
"What did you just do?" She whispers angrily. "Are you trying to get us all killed?"
"Relax. He's just one werewolf. There's three vampires, a witch, and a Kumiho against him if he tries anything."
Yeona lets out a strangled scream of frustration. It startles him enough to finally look at her.
"Get in the car." She barks.
"Missed me?" He smirks, flashing to the passenger's seat. "Nice car, by the way. Too nice for an art student with crippling debt and living out of a shitty motel room."
Yeona rolls her eyes, getting back into her car. "I don't trust you to not fuck things up even further. And great, you've done you're homework. But I don't have crippling debt."
"That's right, mommy paid you're way through college. That's sweet of her." It would sound rude coming from anyone else, but with Damon, it somehow sounded even ruder.
"All of my Charm's schooling is paid off. None of us have to struggle- not unless we defect." Her hands grip her steering wheel, refusing to look at him though she knows he is studying her face.
"You defected, huh? Vixi, I didn't take you for a rebel."
Yeona relaxes, realizing he's not going to press her. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Damon."
A lot.
AN: hey guys! Here's the next chapter. Some clarification for this chapter:
-Kumihos are inherently genderless spirits but take human form. How Yeona looks is something she's picked out, subconsciously based on her parent's appearances.
-Greenfingers: Dust/drug/artifact dealers that work out of Hollow Tree.
-Faerie: Gaelic term for fairies. The origin of faeries in this fic are of Gaelic nature, though if we ever get to see them, they will take many forms just like Kumihos do.
-Dokketebi: Korean version of a goblin. Typically, they possess inanimate objects like wooden spoons and such but Yeona sees them as they are- goblins.
-digitigrade: Yeona's real legs are kind of a mix of human and fox, so the knee placement and ankles are totally different. Also, NO FURRY JOKES LMAO PLEASE I'LL DIE OF EMBARRASSMENT, SHE'S MEANT TO BE CREEPY. /cries/
Anyways. Take care!
