Not only was Juyeon obviously delighted to see Dahye, all of the elites were. They were so happy that she visited that they baked a cake and threw a mini party. 

It only served to make her more annoyed and frustrated. If Juyeon hadn't been obviously madly in love with Dahye, she probably would have been friends with the girl. She was sweet and pure and talented and there was nothing not to like about her. But since he did like her, she couldn't stop her jealous feelings. Not wanting to accidentally be rude to the two of them, she tried to avoid them the whole evening. But naturally, Dahye found her.

"I've been wanting to talk to you all evening," she said excitedly as she rushed over to Chaeyoung. "You and I didn't get a chance to get to know each other. Juyeon speaks so highly of you. Naturally, any friend of Juyeon's is a friend of mine," she said, linking her arm with Chaeyoung's. Chaeyoung couldn't help tensing up, and Dahye quickly withdrew. "I'm sorry!" the girl said quickly. "I know some people hate physical touch. I just always forget. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," she apologized again.

"You didn't," Chaeyoung said, internally sighing at how nice this girl was. Of course Juyeon liked her. Of course. "You said Juyeon was talking about me?" she said, her brain focusing on that tiny piece of information. She was annoyed at herself for being happy knowing that she was the topic of some of their conversation.

"Just a little. He says you're Younghoon's cousin?"

"I am indeed."

"That's so cool," Dahye said, grinning at her. "Are you one of the elites now? Your power feels pretty strong." She stopped walking, cocking her head curiously at Chaeyoung. "Feels a bit peculiar though. Different from other vampires."

Chaeyoung's heart skipped a beat, but Dahye just shrugged. "Anyway, it's pretty cool that you're living in the palace now. You must be very close to Younghoon for him to allow that."

"We're getting closer," she said softly, suddenly feeling nervous. She didn't want this girl to find out that she was half human. "I'm sorry, but I'm feeling a little ill. I think I'm going to go to my room," she said, quickly excusing herself.

She walked out of the ballroom, where they were hosting Dahye's little party, as dignified as she could. But as soon as the door closed behind her, she sprinted down the hall. After a whole day of trying to convince herself that she didn't care about Juyeon's feelings towards that girl, she was exhausted. She was tired of lying to herself and she just wanted to lie on her bed and cry.

She was doing just that when she heard a knock at her door. She sat up in her bed, sniffing and wiping at her tears. The moonlight was bright from her window, and for a second she wondered who it could be at that hour. But then she remembered that the sun wouldn't be up for a few more hours, and that was when she was supposed to be sleeping.

"Who is it?" she tentatively called, walking over and opening her door.

It was Juyeon.