Taeyang
The mark burns again
The mark burned again.
It wasn’t just a sting this time—it was a wildfire under my skin, crawling over bone, searing into my chest like it wanted to rip its way out.
Rheon’s fury hit first.
The moment we stepped into the ruined clearing, I felt it—him—a storm made flesh. His presence cracked through the air like lightning, and everything went still. My breath caught. Shadows curled off his body like smoke searching for something to destroy.
And then his eyes—those obsidian voids, laced with violent violet—locked onto Jisoo.
Shit.
“You betrayed us,” Rheon growled. His voice was low, lethal—like the edge of a blade dragging through fire. “You let her be taken.”
Jisoo didn’t move. But I saw it. The twitch in his jaw. The way his fists clenched, just barely trembling.
“I had no choice,” he said. Quiet. A confession not meant for forgiveness. “The Demon King… he made a promise. If I delivered Seori, Minji would live.”
Rheon’s eyes flashed.
“Minji,” he spat. “And you’d sacrificemy matefor that?”
“I would’ve lost her!” Jisoo’s voice cracked, something breaking behind it. “He had hermarked, Rheon. She would’ve died if I hadn’t—”
“You should’ve told me!” Rheon’s roar shook the ground beneath us. “I would’ve found a way.I trusted you.You were my brother!”
And suddenly, the silence was worse than the shouting.
I stood frozen, caught between them—between history and betrayal. Two men who bled for each other, who once would’ve razed kingdoms side by side, now standing on opposite ends of a cliff carved by guilt.
And I… I was unraveling.
I had tried to stop it. Itried. I still remembered how it felt—Jisoo’s hand grabbing me, pulling me back as Seori screamed, her voice clawing into my chest. I remembered the way he looked at me—eyes full of agony and apology—before he let her go.
But none of it mattered now. Seori was gone. Rheon was coming apart. And I… A gasp tore me from my thoughts. I turned. And everything else fell away.
Yuna.
She stood at the edge of the battle-worn field, pale from the miasma, swaying slightly, but still holding herself together like she always did. Strong. Defiant. Stubborn.
But it was her eyes that shattered me. Because they were looking at me like shefelt ittoo.
Like sheknew.
My hand went to my chest before I even realized it, clawing at the place just above my heart—where the mark throbbed, alive and undeniable.
And then I saw it.
A soft, glowing light beneath the neckline of her tunic—her collarbone pulsing with fae-script patterns… no.
Mymark.
Familiar, spiraling. Unmistakable.
It bloomed across her skin like moonlight meeting dusk—and itbelonged to me.
