I didn’t look away from the smoldering remains.
“I already have.”
Yuna
Something Rotten
I never liked blood. Not the sight of it—though I’d seen my share. Not the smell. Not the way it stuck to your skin like guilt. But what I hated most was how it made her look.
Seori, pale and sweating under the dim light of our quarters, biting her lip to keep from crying out as I peeled her jacket away. The gash across her ribs was angry and red, still oozing even after I’d stitched most of it closed.
“You shouldn’t have taken the hit,” I muttered, voice sharp with blame I didn’t mean to aim at her.
She winced.
“Didn’t have a choice.”
“Yes, you did,” I snapped, pressing gauze against the wound a little too hard. “You just didn’ttakeit.”
“Yuna—”
“You’ve been distracted. You’re not saying it, but I see it. You’ve been off ever since—”
“I saidI’m fine.”
Her words landed like a wall between us. I sat back on my heels, breathing heavy. She wasn’t fine. She hadn’t been for weeks. Ever since that mission in the lower districts. Ever since the nameRheonhad passed her lips like it tasted of ash and sugar.
And I couldn’t help but wonder… who the hell was he? Before I could press further, the door creaked open. Minji walked in first, her expression tense. Behind her, the Guild Master—all steel gray robes and sharper eyes—entered like he owned the air we breathed.
“Report,” he demanded, gaze sweeping the room and landing too long on Seori.
I stood quickly, instinctively positioning myself between him and her.
“The target was neutralized. Mission completed.”
He ignored me.
“You were injured?”
“I’m healing,” Seori said stiffly, not bothering to sit up straighter.
He stepped closer.
“You hesitated.”
“What?” Minji said before Seori could answer.
“You hesitated,” the Guild Master repeated. “if you hesitated here how are you going to deal the final blow to the major target at hand? You were assigned that target for a reason. You are supposed to strike the final blow.”
“She still got the job done,” I said, voice low and sharp. “Why does it matterhowshe killed him?”
His expression didn’t change, but his silencedid.
Minji crossed her arms, her voice suspicious.
“Why is it so important that Seori be the one to kill the high priority target? You never assign missions like that. Not unless it’s personal.”
“I don’t need to explain my decisions to you,” the Guild Master said flatly.
