Seori watched us in silence, sensing the tension. Minji wisely stepped back.
“You don’t get to decide for me,” Yuna snapped.
“Then why does it feel like I’d die if something happened to you? Why does your name feel like a curse I’ve waited my whole life to carry?”
The words echoed in my head, but I didn’t say them. Instead, my voice turned cold, even cruel.
“You’re reckless. Soft. That world will eat you alive.”
Her expression shattered—hurt, confused, angry. And I hated myself for the way she looked at me, like I’d betrayed something I didn’t even understand yet.
“I’m not weak,” she said through her teeth.
“No,” I said, breathing hard. “But I am. When it comes to you.”
She wasn’t my weakness.She was the war I had no idea how to win.
Seori
The Silent Knowing
The air had gone still. Not the kind of still that brought peace—but the kind before a storm. Yuna stood just behind me, fury simmering beneath the surface, her fists clenched like she was ready to punch through fate itself. Her jaw was set in the way it always was when she was trying not to cry. But it wasn’t her rage that had my chest tightening.
It was Taeyang.
He stood across the room—tense, breathing hard, staring at her like she was a battle he never asked to fight. His hand had drifted to his chest again, fingers curling over his shirt.
The same place Rheon had touched… when he first saw me.
When the bond mark flared for the first time.
You feel it, don’t you?
I didn’t say it aloud. I didn’t need to.
Because I knew.
Taeyang’s soul was calling out to Yuna’s—and he hated it. Hated that he couldn’t stop it. Hated that something soft and fearless had become his undoing. I watched the pain flicker in his eyes before he turned away.
Yuna stepped beside me, her voice low but firm.
“I’m coming with you. You’ll need help—”
“No,” I said gently, but firmly.
She blinked, startled by the refusal.
“I can handle what’s waiting on the other side. You and Minji… you’re needed here.”
Minji looked up from where she sat beside Rheon, still unconscious but alive. His breathing had steadied.
Yuna took a step forward.
“You’re doing this alone? After everything”
“No,” I interrupted softly. “I’m doing it with you. Just not there.”
She opened her mouth to argue again—but I turned to her, placing both my hands on her arms.
