The river vanished—
and she woke on the staircase of the dark villa.
Cold marble beneath her bare feet.
Her bridal dress was still there—heavy, damp at the hem—yet the water was gone, as if it had never existed.
The villa trembled.
Walls cracked with soundless echoes. Curtains and shadows lifted into the air, spiraling like fragments of a dream being torn apart.
As if this world was disappearing.
Nora took a step upward.
Then another.
Her dress whispered against the stairs as she climbed.
At the top—
She saw him.
Clad in a long black blazer, black gloves covering his hands.
The villa around them continued to unravel—arches floating, chandeliers dissolving into light, pieces of the dream lifting away into nothingness.
Nora's heart slammed against her ribs.
Her steps quickened.
"No… Gul…" she called out, her voice breaking.
"No Gul!"
She moved closer, step by hesitant step.
But the moment his face came into view... her world shattered.
Blood.
Streaming down his temple. Dripping from his forehead. Slipping down his cheek like a cruel river of red.
"No Gul!" she screamed.
Terror struck her like lightning. She ran to him, stumbling on her own dress.
He swayed.
And in the next breath—he collapsed.
Nora caught him just in time, lowering them both to the misty ground.
"What happened? What's going on? Look at me—say something!"
Her hands trembled as she tried to wipe the blood from his face with her fingers, her dress, anything. But it kept coming. Her tears fell just as freely.
"No Gul, talk to me! Please... please..."
His eyes fluttered open, pain flickering in their depths. But when he saw her—a weak, broken smile spread across his lips.
"You came... You really came."
His voice was strained, filled with both agony and wonder.
She cradled his head in her lap, pulling him close as more tears spilled from her eyes.
"I'm here. I'm right here."
" Nothing will happen to you. I won't let it."
Her dress soaked in red, her arms around him like a shield. She held him tighter, tears streaming down her blood-streaked face.
And just then, a bitter thought crossed her heart like a shadow:
("Happiness is always a guest in my life—never a home.")
He reached up slowly, brushing his blood stained fingers along her cheek trying wipe her tears. "Nora "
"My Nora "
"Don't cry."
He pulled her closer, their foreheads touching.
The world faded around them. The floating dream world. The blood. The cold.
All that remained was them.
—Two souls suspended between love and time.—
And in that moment—Tears, blood, pain, longing—They kissed.
Fiercely. Desperately. As if the universe had only given them this one breath to feel everything.
The Hospital
The world snapped back into reality.
No-Gul lay motionless on the hospital bed.
The room was empty—no doctor, no nurse—only the steady hum of machines.
Suddenly, the heart monitor spiked.
Fast. Erratic.
Then—
A long, piercing flatline.
Silence.
His fingers twitched.
Once.
Twice.
Abruptly, his eyes flew open.
A purple iris ignited, sharp and inhuman—an animal glow flashing through his gaze for a split second.
The ECG jolted back to life.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
He vanished.
A nurse stepped inside moments later, clipboard in hand, humming softly as she approached the bed.
"Let's check your vitals," she murmured.
She looked down.
The bed was empty.
Panic slammed into her chest. She staggered back, eyes wide with terror, then turned and ran—screaming down the corridor.
" PATIENT—HE'S GONE!"
Within minutes, chaos erupted.
But when Ho-Seok and the guards rushed in with the nurse—
No-Gul was there.
Lying calmly on the bed, exactly as before.
Unmoved. Unhurt.
The nurse shook violently, clutching her arm.
"I—I swear," she stammered. "He wasn't here. The bed was empty. I saw it."
The room fell silent.
A strange heaviness lingered in the air.
Then—
something shifted near the curtains.
A presence.
Ho-Seok's hand lifted instantly.
"SHH.....," .
Every guard raised their guns, fingers tense, moving slowly, soundlessly toward the curtain.
Step by step.
Breath held.
Ho-Seok reached out—and yanked the curtain aside.
Only—
The black cat.
Sitting quietly near the window.
Watching them.
He exhaled slowly.
The guards lowered their weapons one by one.
He bent down, lifting the cat gently into his arms.
The cat let out a soft meow, curling comfortably against his chest.
And that's when—
The machines screamed.
Beep—beep—beeeeeep.
No-Gul's heart rate dropped.
Blood pressure plummeted.
The monitors spiraled into red warnings.
"CODE BLUE!"
Doctors rushed in, shoving past everyone. Hands moved fast—oxygen mask, defibrillator, commands firing one after another.
"Clear!"
Ho-Seok stumbled back, clutching the cat tighter, his face drained of color.
"Come on… don't you dare again," he whispered, eyes locked on the bed.
The cat lifted her head . Her eyes sparkling.
To Be Continued.......