Darkness wasn't just the absence of light.
It was a memory.
And as the auction house plunged into shadows, Hana felt something ancient stir in her chest, something that recognized this kind of darkness. Not from this life. From another.
Screams echoed around her as security scrambled to restore order. Emergency lights flickered weakly overhead, casting everyone in ghostly silhouettes.
But she didn't move.
Because someone had whispered behind her.
"You shouldn't have found him."
The voice was wrong.
Not male. Not female.
It sounded... dead.
She turned quickly.
Nothing. No one was standing directly behind her. Just bodies shifting, voices overlapping.
But the temperature dropped noticeably.
Her breath puffed out like mist in front of her. Goosebumps chased up her arms.
She spun toward Jisoo
And found him gone.
Her heart lurched.
No. Not again. Not like in the dreams.
"Jisoo?" she called, louder than she meant.
No answer.
Then, to her right, she saw the side exit swing slightly open, light spilling in from the hallway beyond. Without hesitation, she pushed through the crowd and ran for it.
Jisoo walked fast, fists clenched.
His pulse pounded in his ears, the memory still echoing from the moment their eyes met. The fire. Her death. His scream.
It wasn't déjà vu. It wasn't fantasy.
It was real. He knew it now.
And that terrified him.
He reached the stairwell, slamming the door behind him. The silence inside was absolute, save for his erratic breathing. He gripped the cold railing, trying to gather his thoughts.
"She remembers too," he murmured.
That changes everything.
He'd buried it. For years. The dreams. The visions. The pain. He built walls around it and pretended to be normal. A CEO. An investor. A man of the future.
But his past had just walked back into his life.
And she brought the fire with her.
A soft sound from above caught his attention.
He looked up.
A woman in ceremonial robes stood on the landing three floors above except she wasn't there a second ago.
Eyes black.
Face pale as wax.
He blinked and she was gone.
His heart slammed in his chest.
Then a voice behind him whispered:
"You'll kill her again."
Hana pushed into the stairwell just as the door creaked shut behind someone else.
"Jisoo!" she called.
A faint echo answered.
She climbed quickly, breath hitching, pushing past the chill in the air. Her mind reeled. That whisper hadn't been imagination. She felt the presence, like a weight at the base of her skull.
Third floor.
A soft creak.
She slowed.
The air was colder here.
As she turned the corner, she stopped.
Someone stood facing the wall.
A woman in old court dress Joseon era, her black hair tied in the traditional binyeo knot.
Frozen in place.
Hana stared, wide-eyed.
"Ma'am?" she said, uncertainly.
The woman turned her head slowly.
Her face was smooth. Almost too smooth.
No eyes.
Just shadows.
Hana stumbled backward.
The lights buzzed overhead, and then
The woman vanished.
Just like that.
Gone.
But in her place, etched onto the concrete wall in faint, reddish strokes, was one word:
죄 (Guilt)
By the time Hana reached the rooftop, her chest was burning.
And so was the sky.
The sun had emerged from behind the clouds, casting the city in golden light but it wasn't enough to push away the ice still clinging to her spine.
Jisoo was there.
Standing at the edge, one hand in his pocket, the other gripping the railing as if it were the only thing tethering him to the earth.
He didn't look at her.
"I remember you," he said without turning.
The wind stirred Hana's hair.
"So do I," she replied softly.
Silence stretched between them. Thick. Alive.
He finally turned his head.
His eyes weren't cold. Not anymore.
They were stormy.
Tired.
Hopeful.
And scared.
"You died," he said.
Hana flinched, but nodded.
"So did you."
Another silence.
This time, broken only by the sound of the wind and the distant chaos still unfolding below.
"Was it real?" she asked.
Jisoo looked down at the city.
"I don't know. But I think it's happening again."
She stepped closer. "Do you know who we were?"
"I've seen parts," he said. "A prince. A maid. A betrayal."
"A fire," she added.
He nodded. "And a promise."
Her lips parted. "What promise?"
Before he could answer
A sound!
A sharp crack of energy like lightning, but there were no clouds.
Jisoo turned.
Across the rooftop, a shadow stood against the maintenance door.
Not a man.
Not a woman.
Its shape shifted in and out like a bad signal.
Then it stepped forward and the rooftop temperature plummeted.
Hana gasped as her breath crystallized.
Jisoo stepped in front of her.
"Go," he whispered.
"No."
The shadow raised a hand.
And the world tilted.
Suddenly, Hana wasn't on the rooftop anymore.
She was on fire.
In a silk hanbok, kneeling, bleeding, her fingers clutching a jade pendant
And above her, someone screamed her name.
Jisoo.
She blinked
Back to the present.
Collapsed on the rooftop.
Shaking.
Jisoo grabbed her hand.
"We have to go."
They ran toward the stairwell, but the shadow was faster.
It slid across the concrete without moving.
And then it spoke
Not with a voice.
But directly into their minds.
"If you rewrite the past... You will erase the future."