[Inside the Mirror Realm | 12:00 AM]
It was eerily silent.
Shin Hae-won stood in a space that defied logic—no floor beneath her, yet she stood. No sky above, yet a silver-blue glow bathed her skin. The only thing real was the mirror behind her, now sealed… and the two doors before her.
One pulsed with warmth. A familiar comfort. Do-yoon.
The other whispered temptation, wrapped in something darker, magnetic. Min-jae.
Her heartbeat wasn't steady. It raced as if both doors were pulling threads of her—past and future, body and soul.
She reached out—toward the door glowing red.
Min-jae's door.
But before her fingertips grazed the handle, the mirror behind her cracked.
And Do-yoon stepped through.
"Hae-won!"
Her mouth parted. "What the—how did you—?!"
He didn't answer. He ran straight to her, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her into him.
"You really thought I was going to let you do this alone?"
His voice was low, husky. Too close.
"You could have died," she breathed.
"I'd rather die with you than be left behind again," he said—and kissed her.
---
[The Kiss – Suspended in Time]
Her senses flooded with everything Do-yoon: the way he used to touch her, gentle but greedy. How his lips tasted like rain and regret. How his hands gripped her waist like he never planned to let go again.
But she didn't melt.
Not this time.
Because even as he kissed her, Min-jae's scent lingered in the air—like sandalwood and storm.
She broke away, panting. "You shouldn't be here."
His forehead rested against hers. "But I am."
He cupped her face, eyes blazing with something deeper than lust. "Tell me you don't want me anymore."
She couldn't.
And that was the problem.
---
[Back in the Real World – 12:03 AM]
Min-jae watched the mirror shimmer from the outside. His jaw was clenched, his fists tight.
"She chose his door," he muttered.
But then the mirror cracked again.
And a third door appeared.
This one pulsed in dark violet light… and it was open.
His eyes narrowed. He felt something—like fate twisting in a way it wasn't meant to.
Without thinking, he stepped inside.
---
[Inside the Mirror Realm – Moments Later]
Do-yoon was holding Hae-won when Min-jae appeared behind them, breathless.
Her eyes widened. "You too?!"
Min-jae didn't say anything.
He just walked right up to them, brushed a stray strand of hair from her cheek, and leaned in—so close she forgot how to breathe.
"I tried to stay away," he whispered. "I tried to let him win. But the truth is, I don't care what version of time we're in. I want you. And I'm not letting go this time."
Then his lips were on hers.
It was fire to Do-yoon's rain—hot, commanding, devouring.
She gasped into the kiss, her fingers instinctively curling around his shirt. Her body didn't resist—it responded.
Somewhere deep inside, a voice screamed that this was wrong.
But her heart?
It was split down the middle.
When Min-jae pulled away, Do-yoon was already there, dragging her back, kissing her again, as if he were desperate to overwrite the taste of the other man from her mouth.
Two men.
Two kisses.
Two sides of her.
And her body ached with all of it.
---
[Suddenly…]
The world trembled.
All three of them staggered as the mirror cracked violently—this time from within.
The glass voice returned.
> You weren't meant to bring both.
Now you must pay the price.
One of them will vanish. One of them will forget.
"No!" Hae-won shouted. "You can't take them from me!"
A new countdown appeared in the sky above them:
> 00:02:59…
Three minutes.
She turned to Do-yoon. Then to Min-jae.
"No matter what happens," she whispered, "promise me something."
They both stared at her.
"Promise me you'll find me… again."
Min-jae reached out. "Even if I forget, my body will remember you."
Do-yoon took her other hand. "Even if the world resets, I'll fall for you again."
A tear slid down her cheek.
Then she looked up—
And stepped into the center of the circle.
"I choose neither," she said.
"I choose myself."
---
[A Flash of White Light]
Time screamed.
Everything shattered.
The last thing she saw was both men being pulled away from her—one reaching, one fading—
And her body… falling.