𝐵𝓁𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝑀𝑒

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 09

“It’s a mistake, Y/N. What were you thinking?” I need to hold back a groan. I regret telling everything to Pilly: I know she’s only trying to look after me, but most of the time, she overdoes it.

“I need the money” I remind her, squeezing my phone tighter. “It’s not like I enjoy it…” That’s a lie. A big, huge lie, but I really can’t tell Pilly I enjoyed letting Mr. Jeon suck my blood: she’d have me locked up in a mental institution in no time.

“You could always find something else” she insists. “You know how I feel about vampires… Yeah, they’re mostly integrated, but some of them are still out of control. Have you heard what’s happening in Russia?”

“Just like some humans.” I push the broken door open and walk into the dark, humid hall of my apartment building. “And no, I haven’t heard, but I have a feeling you’re about to fill me in.”

“They took control of most of the country” she explains.
“They overthrew the government, Y/N. Do you realize how dangerous this is?” Dragging myself up the stairs, I hold back a deep sigh.

“Okay, you’re right, some of them are nuts. But Mr. Jeon… well, he’s chill. A bit stiff, but chill, nonetheless. He didn’t hurt me, did he?”

Pillyr doesn’t answer immediately. I almost hear her brain working full force to produce a convincing argumentation. “Doesn’t mean he won’t do it in the future.” I deeply inhale, but I don’t get to defend my point: I climb up the last step of the staircase and stop dead in my tracks, my eyes growing wide.Ben’s here: he’s sitting in front of my apartment, knees bent, thumb mindlessly scrolling on his phone.

“Fuck” I whisper, still as a statue.

He still hasn’t seen me: I could silently head back down and seek shelter in the nearest café, waiting for him to go away.
“What?” Pilly says in my ear. “You okay?” Too late. Ben looks up from his phone and his gaze lights up.

“Y/N, hi.”

“Oh, my God, don’t tell me it’s that scumbag. I take back what I said: the vampire is a thousand times better.”

“Call you back in five minutes, Pilly” I mumble, my eyes following Ben’s every movement. “Love you.”

She tries to say something, but I immediately hang up: I can’t afford to get distracted.
He gets up from the floor and wipes the dust from his pants.

“Where were you? You didn’t have any classes today.” I actually had two classes—this means he doesn’t know my schedule for the new semester. That’s a relief.

“It’s none of your business” I answer, making sure he’s not getting too close. “What are you doing here?”

“Baby, don’t be like that.”

“Don’t call me baby, Ben.”

He stops, his lips so tight they form a straight line. “I get it, you’re mad. I overstepped the other day.”

I shake my head. “That’s the understatement of the century.”

“But you were the one who threw hot tea on me” he says, his hands lifted as he takes another step forward. It’s like he’s approaching a wild beast. “You were kind of asking for it.” Asking for it? Asking for it?

“Have you lost your mind?” I shout, my heart pounding in my chest. “You made me feel like I had to protect myself! How is this asking to get fired?”

“Okay, okay, calm down. I’m not here to argue.” He takes another step. “I’m just trying to make amends.”

“I’m not changing my mind” I warn him, as I start retreating down the stairs. “So you can stop trying, Ben. You’re just wasting your time.”

“Could you just… Could you listen to me for a fucking second?” There’s a hint of rage in his eyes, but he manages to get it under control in a moment. “I didn’t want you to lose your job, okay? But it happened and I’m sorry, Y/N, I really am.” He takes a deep breath. “I wanted to make things better, so I found something for you. A new job.”

I frown. “What are you talking about?”

“Remember Kanny, that old friend of mine from high school?” he asks. “She works for that big chain of night clubs… Lust at first bite. I don’t know what she does there, but she told me they were looking for someone and I gave her your info.”

“What kind of job is it?”

Ben shakes his head. “I don’t know. She said they needed someone good looking, so maybe waiting tables? Here.” He grabs a piece of paper from his pocket. “Her number. She said she’d give you a call in the next few hours, but if you need to contact her for whatever reason… you can.”

I reluctantly take the number. “Okay. I’ll think about it.” I don’t mention I don’t need this job, and not only because I refuse to let Ben know about my latest deal—part of me knows I still should work.

I have all my debts to pay out, my daily and monthly expenses, I’d like to move out from this nightmarish apartment… and then there’s the little bookstore maman and I always dreamed to open. I usually don’t let myself indulge too much in the fantasy: I’m well aware I don’t have the kind of money for that. But now, with Mr. Jeon’s generous offer, I can see the outline of a possibility.

I start doing the math in my head, but Ben interrupts me.
“Is that all?” he asks, expectation in his big, blue eyes. “Nothing else?” I’m tempted to call him an asshole and push him down the stairs, but I’m pretty sure that’d be attempted murder.

Not in the mood for jail.“You’ve been… considerate” I say, even though finding me a new job is the least he could do. I lost mine because of him. “Thank you.”

“Don’t I deserve another chance?”

“I don’t know if you deserve it.” I quickly walk past him, and before he can catch up with me, I run for the door, key ready in my hand. “What I know,” I say, unlocking the door and sliding in, “is that I don’t want to give it to you. Stop harassing me, Ben.”

Just as he’s starting to move toward me, I close the door and lock it as fast as I can, bracing myself for his uncontrollable rage.

It never comes, though: after a few seconds of total silence, I can hear light tapping from the other side of the door.
“You and I belong together, Y/N” Ben says, his voice quiet and collected. “And soon enough you’ll see it as well. I have no doubt about it,baby.”

I choke down a scream of frustration.

When will he leave me alone?

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