The silence after the storm still cloaked the entire shopping mall. Shards of glass littered the floor, reflecting the dim lights like shattered stars. Noona sat slumped against a pillar, her breath ragged, as if her heart had just fled from the edge of death.
Footsteps—slow and steady—echoed from the far side of the darkness.
Noona froze, lifting her gaze in wary fear. Her eyes, now stripped of the rainbow glow, held only blur and pain.
A man stepped out of the shadows—tall and lean, his sharp gaze unshaken by the destruction surrounding them. His long coat swayed as though stirred by a wind that shouldn't exist in such an enclosed space.
"At last… the time has come," he said in a deep, low voice, laced with a mysterious satisfaction, as though he had awaited this very moment for a long time.
Noona's eyes widened. "Who… who are you?" Her voice trembled, a mix of fear and confusion.
But instead of answering, he took another step closer. His shadow fell over her like invisible chains binding her in place.
"What you saw in your own eyes… is not the beginning. It is the covenant that binds you to a destiny you cannot escape."