The Den looms above her, a large spiraling compound that speaks of a time long past. It's in the traditional Hanok style, looking like something out of a Joseon-era fairytale. Shingled roofs that swoop and point so uniquely protected long walls made of dark wood and bright paneling. It's so different from her house with her father in Hawaii; there's a serenity to the place that feels untouched by man and undisturbed by time.
Laughter and the smell of meat cooking drums in Yeona's chest and her feet walk forward without her permission. Her shoes look so small amongst the pile at the door. Yeona could count on one hand the other pairs of shoes that looked around her size. She looks up at her mother, nervous.
Yeona's mother smiles next to her, giving her hand a squeeze as they enter the patio. She's only ten and the world seems so big but it narrows to a pinprick of revelry. Heartbreakingly beautiful women lounge about, their glossy black hair and gleaming mouthfuls of fangs as familiar to Yeona as her own bed back home. Some of the women are dancing, twirling to the beat of a song of drums and stringed instruments.
It seems they notice their presence all at once. Heads turn to look their way and Yeona does her best not to hide behind her mother's skirts. The women crouch slightly, offering their bared necks to Yeona's mother in swift graceful movements, almost like it's part of the dance. They stand up only after Cho-Hee and Yeona pass them, their gazes sticking to Yeona like glue.
Her Korean is still rough from disuse, so she whispers to her mother in English.
"Mommy, why are they all looking at me?"
Cho-Hee stops to kneel before her daughter, tucking a strand of her behind her ears. She smiles but there is an ache to her eyes that Yeona doesn't yet understand the source of. "Everyone here is your family and they are so, so excited to meet you."
Yeona glances about the patio. Nods and soft crooning whispers encourage a tentative smile on her face. A girl who looks to be about her age rushes over. With baby canines and a gap in her teeth, she seems less intimidating than the older women.
"Come on! Let's dance."
"But I don't know the steps."
"Nabi will teach you," Her mother said, pushing Yeona forward gently. "You have forever to learn the steps. For now, simply have fun."
Nabi takes hold of Yeona's hand and the two spin, and spin, and spin. All the while, her mother chats with the rest of the women, her face full of fond pride.
Guilt threatens to choke Yeona. She stares at her bank account blankly, swallowing past the lump in her throat that always accompanies her whenever her mother gives her money. She hadn't begged, hadn't even called, but her mother knows her daughter all too well. Yeona hated this. Her mother was surely breaking Charm rules, giving away money to her run-away daughter.
She knows her mother loves her. She knows she's worried. But every email she tries to write back is half-filled and glaringly empty of what Yeona really wants to say. So much anger, so much pain, goes unwritten. Because at the end of the day, her mother will never understand.
Yeona closes her eyes and drops her head into her hands. Things were so much easier when she just willed the rest of the world away and let herself pretend. But a life of pretending is not a life Yeona wants. She wants the real thing. She wants what humans have, a treacherous voice whispers in her ear.
It used to fill her with self-disgust, that wanting.
All it does now is make her feel empty inside.
Yeona takes that self-disgust and allows it to propel her into apartment hunting. It's better than staying holed up in her hotel room in self-destruct mode. That never ends well.
The apartment she decides on is a cramped two-bedroom with all the basics included, plus a sorry-looking couch that the previous tenants so graciously left behind. The bedrooms are glorified closets but Yeona doesn't care at this point, she just needs room to store all her magical junk that isn't the same room she's sleeping in. If she'd been back home, with Se-Hun, he'd tell her to store it all in their garden shed. He'd even pull her into a dance to shake off the excess magical energy that Yeona can feel clinging to her from living so close to so many dark objects.
But there's no one to dance with her here and Yeona settles for Tempting the office manager into letting her move in the same day. It takes no time to check out of her motel room and cart her things off to her new home. The town is barely waking up by the time she has everything put away in their proper places, soft sunlight streaming through the left-open balcony door. Yeona makes a list of everything she's going to need to get, which is honestly about everything. The complimentary shampoo and soap is only going to last her a few more days at best and she didn't even want to use them in the first place.
At least this place is actually hers. She doesn't need to worry about vampires breaking in, not with her name on the lease. If she's smart, she'll keep it that way. Yeona shoots off a text to Jenna, letting her know she's being roped into future furniture shopping. A message comes in demanding brunch at this very second, so Yeona pulls her jean jacket back on and heads to the Mystic Grill.
Jenna is already seated in their favorite booth with a stack of hotcakes and a steaming cup of tea waiting for Yeona when she arrives. Even with her mouthful of blueberries and her hair tied into a monster of a bun, Jenna looks beautiful. It's something that used to needle at Yeona when she was crushing on the girl. How could Jenna be so imperfectly perfect? But now it only makes Yeona give a fond roll her eyes.
She bumps into a busboy, steadying him as he tries to keep himself from dropping a pile of dirty dishes. With one of his arms in a cast, he struggles while Yeona keeps her hands out to catch any flying glass.
"Woah, sorry! I should have watched myself, you alright?"
"Hey, no worries. It happens." The busboy smiles, his freckled face brightening as he looks at her. "Yeona! Holy crap, how long has it been? Almost didn't recognize you without the bangs."
Yeona squints at him, frowning. She tries to wrack her brain for a name but comes up empty until she registers the natural grapefruit scent under the stink of greasy food and human sweat.
"Matty! What's in the water of this town, everyone is growing up so fast! I remember the freshman year photo the girls sent of you and Tyler, and you look a foot taller already!"
Matt grins. "I'm just growing up, is all. I can't believe you're back in town, you should have said something!"
He puts the tray down to give Yeona a bear hug, his sunny disposition chasing away the last bits of the storm in her heart. Ever since he was a toddler, he'd been coming around and hanging out at the Gilbert's house. Yeona hadn't shown it, but she'd been slightly disappointed when Elena and Matt broke up last year. He was a sweetheart, even if he was painfully boring at times.
When his older sister Vicki had passed, Yeona had cried herself to sleep that night. Not just for Matt himself, but for Vicki. She had always been a little rough around the edges but had deserved a better life.
Looking at Matt, Yeona finds beauty in humanity. He was still standing, despite the cards life had dealt him, and with no supernatural influences to help hold him up. A bandage on his neck catches her attention, dots of red oozing through the thin gauze.
"What happened there?"
Matt's expression turns blank, his eyes glossing over. "An animal attacked me. It bit my neck."
"An animal huh? Did you see what kind?"
"No. It was dark."
"Uh-huh. You should stay out of the woods until that animal is found. Don't want it to take another bite out of you."
Matt's face clears up, the clear compulsion giving way to his naturally smiling face. "Yeah, for sure. This town has gotten pretty wild since you left."
"Well, I just moved into my new place. If you ever want to come over and eat something, you're always welcome. I'll even let you beat me in Mario kart."
"You say that now, but we both know you just suck at Mario Kart."
"Yeona!" Jenna shouts, having finally caught sight of her.
"I'll let you go have your little brunch date. Don't be shy, drop by here soon. Oh, are you going to the Historical Society park set up today? You should, we could use all the extra hands we can get and I'm stuck working."
"I didn't even know about that. I'll probably drop by and get some volunteering in. Might as well do something productive with my day." Yeona chuckles. "See you later Matty. And stay out of the woods!"
"Will do." The second he turns, Yeona's face twists into a frown.
Did Caroline do that?
She readjusts the baseball cap on her head, sending the sun a brief scathing glare. The paintbrush in her hand drips onto her beat-up sneakers and Yeona curses. The Historical Society was more than happy to have an extra helping hand and had thrust a bucket of paint and a brush at her the second she showed up. Now she's stuck in a corner with the preteens, 'supervising'.
Yeona had thought that'd be the worst part of it. But because Mystic Falls was cursed or something, she had wadded knee-deep into supernatural drama once again. Mason Lockwood and the Salvatores were having a pissing contest and she was stuck with brace-faced tweens talking about the merits of Twilight.
At this point, Yeona will happily take Twilight.
Mason has been shooting her wounded looks all afternoon like she'd tried to drive his truck into a ditch or smacked an ice cream cone out of his hand. It makes even less sense when she spots him and Stefan talking to each other, smiles on their faces but their bodies are taut as bowstrings. From wounded to angry, the looks he shot her were bone-chilling.
An angry werewolf was a scary werewolf. Never mind that he's her childhood friend. He's a werewolf first, and her Mason second. No matter how much it hurts, Yeona knows better than to treat guns like they are unloaded. But it doesn't stop her from worrying for him when Stefan's friendly face turns cold.
"I can't tell who you want to tear apart. Stefan or Mason," Caroline comes to stand next to her, her own paintbrush in hand. She sends one of the tweens girls a nasty look, scaring them off. "I can't believe they are Team Jacob. He's so gross in New Moon."
"Should have guessed you're Team Edward," Yeona snickered. "I just hope those two don't try to fight in broad daylight. It's stupid of them to even be talking right now, given the stunt Damon pulled last night."
"I was Team Edward until I became a you-know-what. What did Damon do?"
"Better question, what did you do? Matt's neck smelt like blood when I saw him. Are you doing alright?" Yeona asks, trying to keep her voice gentle.
Caroline immediately tenses up. "I had an accident. I hadn't meant to, but he cut himself and he just smelt so good…I got him to break up with me not long afterward."
In typical Caroline fashion, she turns to bark orders at the flock of middle schoolers instead of dealing with her feelings, despite how her sky-blue eyes water. When she's not doing that, she's watching Stefan and Elena like a hawk. Foreboding presses down on Yeona like a heavy cloud at the sight. Caroline never looked more predatory than she did right now, her eyes sharp and stance coiled. Like a snake in waiting.
"What's going on?" Yeona tosses the paintbrush into its respective paint can, rounding on Caroline with her arms crossed. "It's not jealousy that's got you acting weird, so what is it?"
Caroline falters. "What do you mean? I'm just-"
"Watching Stefan and Elena like they've taken something from you."
"They're fighting. It's weird," Caroline confesses, her eyebrows furrowing further as she goes back to observing the couple. Indeed, they were.
Yeona listens in, tilting her head as if it'd help her hear any better. They were indeed fighting, though there was a tangible amount of longing thrown in. Despite their words, they orbited each other like they had their own gravitational pull that only they could feel. After years of running with her Charm, Yeona knows better than to listen to people's words and take them at face value. Bodies always gave away people's true intentions.
Elena and Stefan were faking it. Yeona doesn't know why, doesn't understand the purpose of a couple so in love fake-fighting out in public, and it makes alarm bells go off in the back of her head. As discreetly as she can, she pulls out her phone and shifts back until Caroline is just ahead of her and would need to crane her neck back to see what Yeona's typing.
Yeona
Caroline is acting off
Elena trails off, brown furrowing as her phone buzzes in her pocket. She pulls it out, her face grim as she read the message. There is only a shadow of exhaustion clinging to her post-apple, the brightness in her eyes all Stefan's doing. Stefan catches on, glancing at her screen before giving the smallest of nods, all without ever looking in Yeona's direction.
Elena
Katherine is in town.
At the mention of Elena's vampiric ancestor, Yeona's face scrunches with distaste. She takes another look at Caroline, the anxiety the blonde excluding in waves finally making sense. Caroline goes back to her assigned post and Yeona notices how tightly wound her muscles are. Definitely suspicious.
The couple switches tactics. Stefan leaves Elena's side, striding across the grass in search of someone else to occupy his time, allowing Elena to look after him forlornly like a heartbroken wife who is watching her husband sail off to war. But the only war is the fight Stefan picks with Mason. It's one annoyance after another with the Salvatore brothers, it seems.
With two brothers against a single Mason, if a fight breaks out, he's dead meat. There is no full moon to shed the leash on his beast and grant him its powers. He's painfully mundane, a fact that hurts Yeona as much as it brings her comfort. Mason's gaze is full of burning ire and despite his vulnerabilities, Yeona knows he's not above scrapping in broad daylight.
He's done it enough times in the past. In hindsight, his anger issues make sense. Werewolves are notorious for them and here he is, trying his best to shake off the rage Yeona can smell burning inside of him. It smells like wildness. It smells like danger.
It's pure grace that Stefan leaves Mason to his quiet seething. There was no room for a scene, not with dozens of eyes on the pair. The humans in the area move out of both creatures' ways, their little monkey brains screaming that something is wrong with the picture without being able to spell out just what.
Trying to go back to painting when all she wants to do is follow Stefan around to make sure he doesn't start something he can't finish is worse than hell. She'd rather swallow a mouthful of glass than get between a supernatural feud, especially when one half of the equation can kill her with a single bite. But Mason is Mason, and Stefan is somebody Elena loves. It's only a shallow balm of relief that Stefan isn't a hothead like his brother.
Speaking of Stefan's brother.
"Who are you messaging?" Damon drawls, coming to stand right behind her.
"Speak of the devil," Yeona rolls her eyes, pocketing her phone.
"So you're thinking about me?" He says smugly. "I'm flattered, Vixi."
"Have you done any work today, or have you just been harassing poor volunteers like me?"
Damon waves her off. "There are plenty of workers around. It'll get finished. Eventually."
"If you focused on actually being useful, you might stay out of trouble." Yeona raises an eyebrow pointedly, moving on to the next post.
Painting has always been a calming activity for her. When nothing else can keep the rest of the world out of her head, stick a paintbrush in her hand and Yeona's brain goes blissfully silent. She tries to find that silence now but she can feel Damon lingering.
"What's got your panties in a twist?"
Frustration twists in her stomach and Yeona glares over her shoulder at the vampire. Her mind stutters as she takes him in. The sunlight, his natural enemy, has been wrapped around his finger. His impossibly blue eyes almost seem warm under the golden sun's rays. Inviting, like a cool pool on a summer's day.
Yeona craves jumping into the deep end.
She shakes herself, settling for a frown wrought with worry. "You and your brother are only playing with fire by bothering Mason. You're not the only one who can die if he gets too bite happy."
His easy-going stance turns rigid in a second, looming over her. "He's not going to touch you. If he does, we are going to find out if all dogs really go to heaven."
Damon's attempt at a reassuring smile reeks of promised violence. It shouldn't comfort her, it should throw her deeper into a fit of concern. Instead, Yeona relaxes and gives him a small smile.
"Careful, Damon. One might think you care." She teases.
He's back to his devil may care attitude, his smile twisting till it's a lopsided smirk. He's pleased- it shows in every line of his body as he tilts his head. "It woundn't be so bad, for us to care about each other. Right, Vixi? We could make a pretty good team."
"Oh yeah?" Yeona grins. H
Damon leans in closer. "Oh yeah."
Yeona grabs a hold of his hand and shoves her paintbrush in it. "Then get to painting, Salvatore. Let's show the others how it's done."
He leans back, rolling his eyes skyward. She almost thinks he's going to say no, or throw the paintbrush back at her and she finds herself gleefully waiting to see which happens. But, to her surprise, Damon crouches next to her and starts painting.
She watches him, shocked.
"Come on now. I know I'm devilishly handsome but get back to work." He says with a smug smirk.
Yeona gives herself a little shake, her face flushing. "More like a devilish pain in my ass."
He opens his mouth, eyebrows raised suggestively
"Don't even say it, Salvatore."
"Whatever you want, Vix. Whatever you want."
Spending time with Damon isn't as awful as she thought it might be. He's actually kind of funny, if not annoying. It makes Yeona feel like a teenager again, trying not to laugh at stupid jokes told by handsome boys who are up to no good. A thrill shoots up the length of her spine every time they catch each other's gaze, the beginnings of a grin she can't smother twitching at her lips each time Damon himself smiles.
She's quietly thankful for a reprieve when he goes to get them both some lemonade. Yeona wipes off her sweating palms on her denim overalls shorts, disbelief filling her. She hasn't had a crush since high school, and here she was, smiling like a doofus to herself about a guy she's just met.
Her family would be so disappointed in her.
And yet, she can't help but watch him as he goes to the lemonade stand, manned by a little girl who hands him two cups with a smile. Stefan wonders over, the two of them speaking in low tones, smiles on their faces. There's an itch on her skin that makes her think they are talking about her and she has to wrangle her smile from getting any bigger.
Damon brings his lemonade to his mouth, wiggling his eyebrows at his brother, only to spike it right out. He leans forward, gasping, and the citrusy scent of vervain colors the air, hidden beneath the packets of sugar and artificial lemon dumped into the pitcher of lemonade. Budding crush aside, if somebody catches on to why he's choking, every supernatural there is toast.
Including Caroline.
Yeona doesn't think, she drops the paintbrush back into the bucket, drops of plaint flying everywhere. As fast as humanly possible, Yeona makes her way through the crowd of volunteers, her hands finding themselves pressed to Damon's back. She leans down with him, peering at his face and biting her lip.
"Somebody spiked the drinks," Stefan supplies.
"I think she guessed that," Damon chokes out, rubbing his throat.
"We need to get him out of sight," Yeona says, wrapping an arm around his broad back and doing her best to help lift him without making it look like she's doing all the work.
Despite wanting nothing more than to focus on Damon, Yeona casts her eyes around. It's years of training to be suspicious that has her gut instincts demanding her to pay attention, to find the person responsible. Liz Forbes stands across the grassy belt, her face pinched with disappointment and something a lot like anger. At the last second, Yeona catches herself, forcing the narrowing of her eyes and her frown into something softer. Neutral.
She gives Liz a shrug and an easy smile, looking perfectly confused. But Liz's attention isn't even on her. It's on Damon. Liz disappears into the crowd and Yeona's gut rolls.
"Mason," Stefan hisses. "He did this."
His eyes track something Yeona doesn't see, her attention too wrapped up on how hurt Liz had seemed. Like she'd been betrayed. Nothing was making any sense. There are too many secrets going on, and she's only just gotten here a few days ago. What the fuck , Mystic Falls.
"I'm not too sure it was just him. Sheriff Forbes just gave us the stink eye and walked away." Yeona says.
"I'm going to kill that wolf." Damon groans. He lifts himself from Yeona's grip, voice no longer hoarse. "I don't care if he's your little high school buddy, he's a dead dog."
"I…I don't want him to die. Let me talk to him, I'll get him to stop." Yeona grimaces. "He should listen to me."
The brothers share a look. "Sure. But go warn Caroline first, and we'll just go try and relax a bit."
Yeona nods, already turning towards the direction she saw Caroline last. "Good idea. Then we can all figure this out. I'm sure he'll listen to me, just wait for me alright?"
"We'll be waiting." Damon gives a strained smile.
Yeona flits away, dashing a little too fast as she looks for Caroline or Elena. Bonnie still hadn't shown up, likely still upset, and Yeona can't help but thank the universe that Bonnie was so stubborn. At least her stubbornness is keeping her safe today.
Caroline isn't by her post, her scent just beginning to fade. Yeona curses to herself and twirls in place, eyes jumping around to look for the blonde. Both girls are gone, their comforting faces missing from the groups of volunteers. A shot rings out from the woods and Yeona goes rigid.
Not a single human turns to look. They carry on with their respective duties, or they're horsing around, but nobody hears the echo of more shots. Shouts of pain reach her ears, filling her head and calling her forward. She feels her fangs slip through her mouth and Yeona stops caring if she's spotted. The world turns into a whirl of blue and green, the sky and earth her only companions as she races towards the sound.
Lavender and vanilla beckon her forward, the sweet scents of her girls tainted by the smell of their fear and a primal musk. Her face twists into a snarl. Werewolf. Mason, if she's honest with herself. But she doesn't want to face the possibility that her friend could be making Caroline and Elena smell so starkly of fear.
Yeona skids to a stop, digging her heels into the earth and leaving thick scores in the soil. Her claws slip out of the beds of her fingernails, sharpening into razors. Mason has his arms locked around Elena's head, his blue eyes, the ones Yeona knows so well, sliding to the new arrival. He takes in her appearance, shock coloring his face.
"What are you?"
"I'm starting to hate that question. Mason, let her go."
His face hardens, a sliver of regret shining in his eyes. "No."
Caroline hisses and takes a step forward.
"Careful now. Necks snap easily in this town."
"I can take you." Caroline nods at her own words, eyes made of steel.
"You want to bet?" Mason smirks.
Yeona catches Elena's attention. Quietly, Yeona motions a clawed hand towards herself. Giving a tiny nod, Elena's eyes flicker back to Caroline.
"Yeah. I do."
Caroline flashes forward, taking hold of Mason's shoulders. Slipping from his grasp, Elena runs to the safety of Yeona's arms, the Kumiho putting the girl behind her. With an ease Caroline could never have managed as a human, she throws Mason against a tree, her hand at his throat.
"Told ya," Caroline bares her teeth in a mocking grin.
Her knee flies up, bunting Mason in the crotch and pulling a pained groan from his lips. She lets him drop to the forest floor but kicks him before he can touch the ground. Like a rag doll, Mason is tossed through the air, his core slamming into another tree and falling limply. He doesn't get up, a whimper leaving his shaking body.
"Leave him," Yeona spits out. "Go get Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. I'll watch Mason."
Caroline turns into a blur, picking Elena up and flashing the both of them out of there. Stubborn as always, Mason tries to get up but stills when Yeona lets loose an angry growl.
"I'm just going to sit up," He says, wincing as his ribs crack back into place. Mason rubs at his chest, pulling himself up to lean against the tree, aware of Yeona's glare at him all the while.
"Every time I think maybe there are good werewolves out there, your kind always reminds me otherwise. They are teenagers, Mason. Kids!" She snarls. "They grew up around you. And you threaten to kill Elena?"
"I don't want to hurt anybody, Yeons. I just want Damon out of the picture. If that means there is collateral, then so be it. You don't get it, you're blinded by him already."
Yeona's invisible hackles rise. "I'm not blind to anything. He's not the one trying to kill a teen."
Mason laughs. It's hollow, tinged with pity as he looks up at her. "See? Blind. I know people like him. He's a user. A killer. I know you've always been a bit naive, but don't let his hold on you pull wood over your eyes."
"There is no 'hold', you moron." Yeona flexes her hands, pacing in a tight short line.
He eyes her warily, a look of understanding dawning. "You don't even know, do you?"
"Know what?" Tired of his words, Yeona tosses her arms into the air. "What do you think you know?"
"You haven't noticed how weird you are around him? How you both seem to gravitate towards each other, or look at each other like you're the only ones in the room? Come on now, think. Where have you seen that kind of behavior before?"
Foreboding gets her to her keep her mouth shut. She gestures to him to go on, eyebrows shooting up to her hairline.
"What you two have, it's not natural. I've only seen this with mated vampires. It'll never be real, Yeona. You've got to fight the pull."
It slams into her all at once. Every moment with Damon, the desire to be near him. How his eyes, however how pretty, seem to hold her into place like a butterfly pinned for display. Bile creeps up her throat and she swallows it back.
"Tell me everything you know." She demands.
Mason opens his mouth, but gunshots sound from where the girls took off. Yeona hesitates, torn. He notices and jerks his head in the same direction.
"I can already see what you're going to choose. If you make it out of there alive, I'll tell you everything."
Yeona flickers from sight.
AN: So, Yeona learns about her connection to Damon! What she's going to do about it, is another matter. It's not going to be a super fast burn, but I do want to say those two get together kind of fast. She and Elijah are a different matter, though, so those who love slow burns just sit tight!
