“Destruction,” I said. “And yet… look at how gently you carried her.”
That made him flinch.
“She’sfae,” he ground out.
“And Seori’s a demon hunter,” I replied. “And Minji was raised by the very people who tortured Jisoo.”
He turned away.
“You think the bond cares what you hate?” I whispered. “Itwasn’t made to be easy.It was made tobreakyou. And then make you whole.”
Still silence.
Until—
Yuna stepped into the archway, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Her hair was down, messy and soft in the moonlight.She was wearing one of Seori’s oversized jackets, drowning in it, her steps unsure but steady.
“Taeyang?” she asked softly.
And that was the moment. He looked at her. Really looked at her. And fell to his knees.
Not because he was weak. But because his body couldn’t carry the weight anymore. The denial. The rage. The desperate yearning that had been eating him from the inside out.
His hands trembled.
And then… he bowed his head.
“Fate is cruel,” he whispered. “But you… you make it seem like it is worth the pain.”
Yuna blinked, surprised. Her breath caught.
“What are you saying?”
He lifted his eyes — stormy, desperate, reverent.
“I think you were always mine,” he said. “I just didn’t want to believe I could be yours.”
Some warriors shatter when touched by love.Others kneel — not in surrender, but in awe.And in that moment, Taeyang realized he may not be able to fight this anymore. So, he felt lost for once in his entire existence.
Seori
The Bond between us
I woke to warmth. Not the artificial kind of warmth that came from heaters or enchanted blankets… but a living, pulsing heat. Like a heartbeat wrapped around mine. Like fire curled inside my chest, cradling me from within.
I opened my eyes slowly.
The ceiling above me wasn’t one I recognized. Old wood beams. A golden haze of early dawn light cutting across faded stone. The air smelled like cedar… and him.
Rheon.
Even before I turned my head, I felt him.
His magic brushed against mine like a whisper across skin.
Not a thought, not quite a word—just the feeling of him.
A storm held barely in check. A shadow leaning toward the light. I shifted and winced—then stilled.
