Lucas stared at the mirror that Grace pointed to. He saw himself in the mirror, not as Grace had described. Lucas was sure Grace remembered his face from last night and wanted to see how he would react to such an insignificant accusation.
Fortunately, Lucas could control his facial expressions because he didn't like showing reactions, which made it easy for others to read him.
He truly hated having to discuss something so trivial.
"What do you want me to see?" Lucas asked flatly.
Grace immediately laughed softly, realizing how silly she had been.
"No, no. I just wanted to get to know you better. And I've been watching horror movies lately, so my jokes tend to be a little scary," she laughed.
Her friends immediately laughed at Grace's sudden, strange behavior. Grace was very friendly and could get along with anyone. But to her friends, it was odd because Grace was doing it with a man who looked gloomy.
"You don't need to be friendly with him, Grace." Eric chimed in while picking up the documents she had dropped.
All eyes immediately turned to Ezra. They all knew he was arrogant, difficult to befriend, and harsh when speaking to someone. Ezra openly showed his dislike for someone he didn't like.
"Why not? We're in the same department," Grace replied.
Ezra and Lucas' eyes met as if they were stabbing each other with just their gazes. The wounds from their fight had not yet healed. But both of them tried to hide their pain so it wouldn't affect the people around them.
Their relationship was truly terrible.
"What's wrong with you, Ezra? You're being so open about your dislike for Lucas." Someone else commented on Ezra.
"Ah, I see! Could Ezra be jealous?"
Everyone laughed at their speculations.
"Fine, laugh all you want before you end up dying at the hands of that devil!" Ezra said, pointing at Lucas.
Ezra was provoked by his friends' teasing, who immediately fell silent upon hearing Ezra's words.
Though they were used to Ezra's sharp tongue, which could lash out at them at any moment over a small joke, everyone felt Ezra had gone too far this time. Not only did he speak as if cursing everyone to death, but he also called Lucas a demon.
"You've gone too far, Ezra," Grace warned.
Ezra stared at Grace with a dark look, feeling offended by Grace's words, which seemed to defend Lucas, even though Ezra only tried to reveal and inform everyone how dangerous Lucas was.
Without saying a word to Grace, Ezra placed the documents he had brought onto Grace's desk while shooting a sharp glance at Lucas.
"Enjoy your life before I end it, you petty man!" Ezra threatened before walking out of the room.
Lucas wasn't provoked by Ezra's words at all. There was no reason to attack Ezra first because Lucas's desire to fight was simply because his soul was destined to be a vampire. He wasn't alive, nor was he dead.
"Please don't take Ezra's words to heart. He's just arrogant." Grace clasped her hands before Lucas, apologizing on Ezra's behalf.
Ignoring her, Lucas sat back down, paying no attention to what everyone else was doing.
Grace clenched her fists, annoyed that Lucas was almost as arrogant as Ezra. The difference between them was that Lucas didn't talk much. Grace sighed deeply, trying to be patient with her unexpected fate of meeting two men like them.
"Oh, Lucas. If you have any questions about your work, don't hesitate to ask me." Grace tried to strike up a conversation with Lucas.
Regardless, Lucas's desk was right next to Grace's. She couldn't keep silent forever in response to his silence. The atmosphere would become awkward, making them uncomfortable in the office.
"Okay," Lucas replied briefly, clearly, and without looking at Grace.
"Haha... you made me feel embarrassed, damn it!" Grace said softly, regretting being nice to Lucas, who didn't appreciate her kindness.
Grace hoped Lucas would smile at her at least a little for offering to help him with his work.
"You're wearing clothes, and you're not at fault. Why should you feel embarrassed?" Lucas turned to respond to Grace's mutter.
"Oh, come on. Your thinking is so outdated." Grace rolled her eyes and turned her face back to the computer before her.
They returned to their work in silence. No one started a conversation. Grace tried to focus and ignore the pungent smell of dried roses around her. She was sure it came from Lucas, who made her remember what she saw last night, even though she tried hard to forget.
"Grace, we're going to the lab first. After you finish dealing with your documents, follow me with Lucas." Grace's friends got up and left the room.
"Okay," replied Grace, who hadn't turned her face away from the computer for a moment, reading every lab test report.
Meanwhile, Lucas occasionally glanced at Grace to ensure she didn't notice his strange behavior. The smell of blood had been piercing his nose since he first entered the building where he was working.
Lucas tried hard not to do anything that might provoke his wild, bloodthirsty side. Lucas admitted it was his fault for choosing to work at BIOVENA Corporation, where he would constantly be faced with human blood.
"Lucas, let's go to the lab!" Grace stood up from her seat.
Instead of following Grace, Lucas looked up and stared at her.
"What are you looking at?" Grace asked.
"You're bleeding."
Grace wiped her face and realized that blood was coming out of her nose. She didn't know when it had started, but Grace didn't feel any pain or anything. She was so focused on her work that she didn't notice her nose was bleeding.
"Oh my God. I didn't notice." Grace covered her nose with her hand, but it didn't help because the blood started dripping onto the floor and staining some of the documents on Grace's desk.
Grace's other hand rummaged through her desk drawer looking for tissue, while her other hand could no longer hold the blood.
"Lucas, can you help me? I don't have any tissues." Grace spoke, hoping Lucas would help her this time, even with his cold attitude.
"Here." Lucas handed Grace a tissue, but she turned away from him.
"Hey, I didn't ask you to do anything besides give me a tissue. Why are you being so arrogant and refusing to look at me?" Grace grew increasingly annoyed by Lucas's attitude.
However, that wasn't why Lucas refused to look at Grace. He didn't want her to see his eyes glowing red and his fangs emerging, ready to hunt for blood, as he couldn't bear the sight of blood splattered around him.
With a frustrated sigh, Grace grabbed some tissues and wiped her hands and nose, but the bleeding wouldn't stop. Grace was a little panicked because she had never experienced this.
"Go to the health room, Grace. I'll clean the floor." Lucas approached and took a broom and mop from behind the door.
This was the first time Grace had heard Lucas call her name. It wasn't anything special, but she didn't expect Lucas to show her concern.
"Are you sure you want to clean it up?" asked Grace.
"Yes."
"But why?"
"It's okay if you don't want any help." Lucas returned the cleaning supplies to her.
"Okay, I'll go. Thank you so much." Grace quickly ran to the infirmary.
Meanwhile, Lucas turned around and swallowed hard, seeing fresh red blood on the floor. He approached, knelt, and stuck out his tongue, ready to lick the blood with his eyes glowing bright red, so enthusiastic about what he saw.
Before Lucas's tongue touched the floor, someone suddenly grabbed his neck tightly.
"You bastard!"