A Feast For The Vampires

XX

The morning breeze was fresh and warm. It danced through the blanket that Kimi had wrapped around himself. He looked at nothing, thought about nothing and let his mind be a blank entity. The sound of the crew members moving about played in the background as he just stood quietly against the railing, his lips pursed into a thin line.

Dae-yang walked onto the deck, stretching her arms over her head, her hair a mess. “Good morning,” she greeted everyone as she looked around, searching for Kimi. When she spotted him, she smiled and she rushed to his side. “Kimi? Good morning.”

Kimi gave her an empty sideglance, before returning his gaze to the horizon. Dae-yang awkwardly cleared her throat and held onto the railing. She stretched against it, groaning as her joints popped lightly. She stood straight again with a sigh and squinted eyes.

“Beautiful day huh?” She rested her elbows on it and looked sideways at Kimi. “Feeling okay? Everything alri—”

Kimi turned and walked away without a second glance. On his way down the steps, he accidentally bumped into a yawning Duan. Even the strength to yell at him had been drained by the extremely eventful night.

“Ow...” Duan blinked and looked down at Kimi. “Oh, Kim good morning. Did you sleep well?” He ruffled his hair. “Clearly I didn’t because my head hurts like as if it was weighing a brick wall as I slept.” He clicked his tongue. “I don’t even think I have parace—”

“I didn’t,” Kimi whispered. He pulled the blanket closer to himself and looked up. Duan gave him an alarmed look and started rambling. He studied his facial expression with pursed lips. ‘He’s not one of them.’ He bit the inside of his cheek. ‘Duan’s not one of them.’

“...why are you still awake? Go to bed. Sleep till... I don’t know... whenever you like. You know...” He scratched his head and looked away awkwardly.

Kimi heaved a sigh. “Duan—”

“Yes?” He gave him a wide-eyed stare. “What... What is it?” As Kimi blankly stared up at him, he cleared his throat and said, “sorry. I should’ve waited for you to finish talking, but I...” He cleared his throat. “I’ll stop—”

“Duan do you know anything about ca—”

“Hey,” Dae-yang drawled as she approached them, her hands on her waist. She looked at Duan and snapped her fingers at him. “Duan Jaeger is it?”

“Um...” He pointed at her with an awkward smile. “Dae-yang Mikaelmas is it?”

“Yeah,” she dragged out. She playfully punched his shoulder. But she looked to the sky the instant Kimi coldly flared at her. “Nice morning isn’t it?” She looked at Duan’s open-mouthed expression. “Isn’t it?”

“Huh...? Oh yeah... Um...” He scratched his head and squinted at the pale blue sky. “It looks bearable. Almost blue, clearly orange, warm. The scenery is okay, fine...” He cleared his throat. “...beautiful.”

Dae-yang agreed with a nod. “I kind of like—”

“Dae-yang?” Kimi gave her a hard stare.

“What?” She looked at him like she didn’t realize that he was standing there. “What—”

“Why are you trying to shut me up?” He moved closer to her. “Are you trying to stop me from getting my ans—”

“Oh look, Co-captain Raaspard and Coach Tobe,” she rushed out and pointed at the two as they approached them.

Kimi stiffened and bowed his head, silently clicking his tongue. He tugged the blanket closer to himself when the two of them walked past them. When they were on the deck, Kimi frowned and rushed down the stairs, Dae-yang and Duan worriedly watching him leave.