It was raining the night Mystery didn't leave.
They were supposed to part ways after the mission.
Huntrix's dorm was a safe zone. Saja Boys' hideout was three stations east. That was the plan. That was the rule.
But Zoey lingered at the gates of the rooftop garden, and Mystery...
Mystery just stood there beside her like time had frozen.
Neither of them spoke at first.
The rain drizzled against the garden awning like a lullaby, soft and sacred. Below them, the neon lights of New Seoul blurred like watercolor.
Zoey's hair clung damply to her cheeks, glitter still smeared under her eyes from the performance hours ago.
Mystery's jacket was half-unzipped, exposing a bandage across his collarbone where a demon claw had nearly torn through.
The mission had been brutal.
She nearly died.
He nearly turned.
But they survived.
Together.
"Why didn't you leave?" she asked softly, not looking at him.
Mystery didn't answer right away. Instead, he reached into his pocket, pulled out something small, and gently placed it into her hand.
It was her moon pendant.
The one she'd lost in the battle.
Cleaned. Repaired. Polished.
"I... wanted to return this," he said, barely louder than the rain.
Zoey stared at it. Her fingers curled around it tightly, like it was a piece of her soul.
"You always do that," she whispered.
"Do what?"
"Save me. Then pretend you didn't."
Her voice cracked.
A pause. A breath. Then Mystery's reply, low and broken:
"I don't know how to not save you."
She turned toward him. The garden lights reflected in her eyes like stars that didn't belong on Earth.
"Mystery..." Her voice was unsure. "Is it the Sigil? Is that why you stay?"
His answer was a slow, shaking exhale.
"No." He looked at her then — really looked.
"It's you."
The word landed like a lightning strike.
"I stay because it's you. Because every time I try to walk away, something in me begs not to."
His hand moved to hover near her cheek, trembling.
"I think I was always meant to find you. Sigil or not."
Zoey's heart shattered and bloomed all at once.
She stepped closer. Rain soaked through her sleeves.
"I dreamed of you," she whispered. "Before I even knew your name."
Mystery's throat bobbed. "I thought I was cursed."
"You still might be." She smiled gently, placing her hand over his. "But... I think we were cursed together."
They stood in silence, forehead to forehead, the city singing below them.
And then, slowly — impossibly tenderly —
Mystery leaned in.
Zoey didn't pull away.
Her eyes fluttered shut.
And in the moment when the world went quiet—
They kissed.
Soft at first. Hesitant.
Then with a fierce kind of longing that had been held back for far too long.
It wasn't perfect — his lips were trembling, her tears mixed with the rain —
but it was real.
It was two people choosing each other despite the danger, despite the curses, despite the chaos waiting just beyond the garden gate.
When they broke apart, Mystery rested his forehead against hers.
"You shine too bright," he whispered. "It hurts."
Zoey smiled through tears.
"Then close your eyes and let me be your light."
And in that quiet rooftop moment —
with the rain soft, the night warm, and their hearts finally aligned —
Mystery stayed.
Not because he had to.
Not because of fate.
But because of her.
Always her.