A faint hum buzzed in Ji Ah's ears as her lashes fluttered open.
The first thing she noticed? An unfamiliar ceiling above her.
The second — a blurry silhouette seated 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, with dark gray hair, lounging like he owned the universe.
His blood-red eyes were trained directly on her.
"Sleeping Beauty, huh?" he drawled, 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 onto the cold floor.
"What—who the hell are you?" she hissed.
"And why the hell am I here?!"
He didn't move. Just watched her, still smirking.
"'Why are you here?' You make it sound like I kidnapped you," he said, finally standing 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, using the bed's edge to push herself up.
"Three days? What 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 gently into the air — and set her down 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 near her ear, his breath cold as ice.
"Sit still."
She froze, heart pounding.
His hand brushed a strand of hair from her face.
"I am Ryu Hwan," he said, voice turning cold.
"The ruler of the 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 behind them, chirping softly as it landed.
Ryu smirked, glancing 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 feel 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, 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 into his chest.
Blood trickled down, dark and thick.
Ji Ah froze. She hadn't meant to hurt him — just escape.
But the sight of his blood...
It stabbed deeper into her than the knife 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, trembling as she tried to stop the bleeding.
But Ryu Hwan…
He didn't flinch.
There was no pain in his eyes.
Only silence.
Only... her.
With a faint smile, he reached out and pulled her closer by the waist — settling her into his lap once again.
Ji Ah didn't resist.
She couldn't.
Her mind spun with confusion. Her heart cracked open like never before.
And then, just like that — before her eyes...
The blood vanished.
The wound disappeared.
The dagger slipped out as if it had never been there.
Ji Ah stared, shaken.
Her voice broke the silence.
"…What are you?"
Ryu Hwan didn't answer.
Instead, he wrapped his arms around her — this time, not with magic.
This time, it was his strength.
His touch.
And in that terrifying closeness, their eyes met.
A gaze so deep, so quiet, yet burning —
Ji Ah forgot to breathe.
Forgot to question.
Forg
ot the world outside his arms.
For a moment...
She was lost in his eyes.
And he, in hers.
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