Seori A Slip in the Shadows
Seori
A Slip in the Shadows
"Focus, Seori."
Minji’s voice cut through the fog in my head—sharp, grounding—but it barely held. The alley stank of rain-rotted trash and ash, but all I could smell was him. All I could feel was the sear of Rheon’s mark when our eyes met. The flicker of recognition. The burn.
I’d barely slept. Not since our last encounter. Not since my blade met his, and something inside me didn’t scream kill… it whispered stay.
We were hunting a minor chaos demon in the broken ruins near Hongdae. Yuna took point, her fae instincts guiding her toward the pulse of magic. Minji flanked our right, every step measured, deadly. And me?
I was trailing behind like a ghost. Haunted. Distracted. Off-balance.
“Does she even see the trail?” Minji muttered.
I forced myself forward.
“I’m fine.”
Minji glanced back, unimpressed.
“You’re not even here, Seori.”
A hum rose in the air—tainted magic. Yuna raised a hand.
“It’s close.”
We fanned out. I gripped my blade tighter, sweat slicking the hilt.
Then everything unraveled.
A demon lunged from the rooftops above—fast and silent. I looked up and froze.
Not from fear. From recognition.
Crimson eyes. A flash of darkness. A mark burning into skin.
Rheon.
No—not him. But the echo of him cracked through me like lightning.
I couldn’t move.
And then—
Steel sliced the air. Minji.
She barreled into the demon, knocking it off course and sinking her blade into its ribcage. A shriek split the air as it scrambled away, bleeding into the shadows.
Minji rounded on me, fury in her face.
“What the hell, Seori?!”
I couldn’t answer.
Yuna arrived seconds later.
“Are you hurt?”
“No,” I whispered. “Just… shaken.”
“You froze,” Minji hissed. “You never freeze.”
I swallowed the knot in my throat. “I didn’t mean to.”
“You don’t get to ‘mean to’ in the field.”
Yuna’s touch was gentler. She grabbed my arm, eyes wide.
“This is about him, isn’t it?”
I flinched. Didn’t answer.
“Seori…” Her voice was a whisper. “This isn’t just a mark anymore, is it?”
“No,” I admitted.
Silence fell. A truth too loud to ignore.
Minji’s shoulders dropped. She looked scared.
“Then figure it out. Before it kills you. Or one of us.”
I nodded, throat burning. But inside… I was already unraveling.
Rheon wasn’t just a mission anymore.
He was a warning. And a tether I didn’t know how to sever.