A faint hum buzzed in her ears as Ji Ah's lashes fluttered open.
The first thing she noticed? The unfamiliar ceiling above her. The second — the blurry silhouette of someone sitting across the room on a velvet sofa.
As her vision adjusted, she blinked a few times, trying to focus. And then… she saw him.
A man — tall, dark gray haired, lounging like he owned the universe.
His red eyes were trained directly on her.
"Sleeping Beauty, huh?" he drawled, his voice deep and lazy, lips curled into a wicked smirk.
"You've been asleep for three days, darling."
Her brows furrowed. Three… days?
She tried to sit up, but her body betrayed her. Weak. Numb. She barely managed to swing her legs off the bed before collapsing to the cold floor.
"What—who the hell are you?" she hissed.
"And why the hell am I here?!"
He didn't move from his place. Just watched her with that same mocking smile.
"'Why are you here?' You make it sound like I kidnapped you," he said casually, standing up at last and walking toward her.
"You've been resting here, by your own will. I merely brought my kitten home — to take care of her, of course."
"Kitten?" she spat, clutching the edge of the bed to push herself up.
"Three days? What the hell did you do to me?! Why do I feel so… weak?"
Without warning, he snapped his fingers.
In a flash, red and black flames erupted beneath her. They wrapped around her body, lifting her into the air before gently placing her right into his lap.
Ji Ah struggled, panicked, thrashing against the magical grip — but the flames only tightened.
"The more you move, the tighter they'll hold you," he whispered against her ear, his breath cold as ice.
"Sit still."
She froze, her heart thudding in her chest. His hand brushed a strand of hair from her face as he looked into her eyes.
"I am Ryu Hwan," he said, voice suddenly colder.
"The ruler of N1N Zone — the king of this cursed land. Nothing happens here without my command. Not even the flap of a bird's wing."
Almost on cue, a tiny dragonlet flapped its wings in the background, landing with a soft chirp behind them.
Ryu smirked and glanced over his shoulder.
"Except for you, Ember. You do whatever you want."
But Ji Ah was no longer listening.
Ryu Hwan… Ryu... Why does that name sound so… familiar?
She was still lost in thought when he pressed something cold into her hand.
A dagger. Sharp. Beautiful. Dangerous.
"Want to try escaping, kitten?" he murmured.
"Go ahead. Stab me. Right here."
He exposed his chest to her, unflinching.
"Try running. I won't stop you."
In her trembling hands, the knife felt heavier than it should've.
Ji Ah looked up, meeting his eyes — eyes that strangely held no fear.
Inside his mind:
Go on… Tear open this heart again. Let me die by your hands a thousand times, if that's what it takes.
Even in pain — I'll belong to you, my love.
I only wish… you remembered me.
Suddenly — Ji Ah's grip tightened. And with a sharp, defiant cry, she plunged the dagger straight into his chest.
As the blade pierced Ryu Hwan's chest, blood began to trickle down, dark and thick. Ji Ah froze in horror. She hadn't meant to hurt him — she just wanted to escape.
But the sight of his blood…
It stabbed deeper into her than the knife had gone into him.
Her breath caught.
Tears welled up, uninvited, overflowing as if the pain were hers to bear.
"No… no, I didn't mean—" she whispered in panic, her trembling hands trying to stop the bleeding.
But Ryu Hwan...
He didn't flinch.
There was no pain in his eyes.
Only silence.
Only… her.
With the faintest smile on his lips, he reached out — calm, unbothered — and pulled her closer by the waist, settling her once again onto his lap. Ji Ah didn't resist. She couldn't. Her mind was spinning with confusion, her heart cracking open like never before.
And then, just like that, before her eyes…
The blood vanished.
The wound… disappeared.
The dagger… slipped from his chest as if it had never belonged there.
Ji Ah stared, shaken. Her voice broke into the silence.
"…What are you?"
Ryu Hwan didn't answer.
Instead, he wrapped his arms around her more tightly — this time, not with magic.
This time, it was him.
His strength.
His touch.
And in that terrifying closeness, their eyes met.
A gaze so deep, so quiet, yet burning —
that Ji Ah forgot to breathe.
Forgot to question.
Forgot the world outside his arms.
For a moment, she was lost in his eyes — and he, in hers.