Sion stood there, the card in hand, eyes fixed on it without blinking.
He didn't answer.
He folded the paper, slowly.
Every movement controlled.
Too controlled.
The doctor tried, timidly:
— Do you… want me to call security?
Sion finally raised his eyes to him.
A slow look.
Heavy.
Terrifyingly calm.
— Next time someone comes near my mother without my consent, you lose your job.
And your teeth.
The doctor nodded so fast he almost stumbled on his way out.
Sion left the room, the paper clenched in his hand, the veins in his arms bulging from the tension.
He stayed alone in the hallway.
The crumpled paper in his fist.
Because this "someone":
— knew his name
— knew Nari's name
— knew where his mother was
— and had dared to visit her
All while leaving a note that felt like a provocation.
Like a foul breath on his neck.
A cold shiver ran through him.
Someone was watching him.
Someone was circling.
Someone was playing with him.
He cursed under his breath, drew in a deep breath, swallowed down the wave of anger burning through his veins… and walked out of the clinic.
⸻
ON THE WAY BACK
The engine roared.
His fingers were clenched around the steering wheel.
And dark thoughts piled up, clashed, overlapped:
Who knows my mother is here?
Who knows about Nari?
Who knows how to get in?
Who knows where to find me?
Who takes the liberty of leaving me a note?
Who dares?
A strange, unfamiliar pressure slowly built in his chest.
A primitive feeling.
A visceral alarm.
This wasn't just some stranger.
It wasn't just chance.
It was someone who knew too much.
Someone who wanted to be seen without being seen.
Someone announcing their presence…
without ever showing up.
Sion felt his breathing quicken.
Fear.
A real one.
Rare.
As rare as a missed heartbeat.
AT NARI'S PLACE
She was there.
Sitting cross-legged on the couch, wearing an oversized pajama, her hair tied up randomly, a pack of chocolates on her lap, a horror movie on pause.
She looked up and smiled softly.
— You're back?
Come, I found such a good horror movie!
But Sion walked past her without answering, without even looking at her.
He sat heavily on the couch.
Head lowered.
Fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.
— Sion…?
Are you… okay?
His voice was low.
Cold.
No softness at all.
— Who did you talk to about my mother?
His voice low, hard, sharp.
Nari blinked, surprised.
— Uh… no one. Why?
Sion's expression shifted.
His features tightened.
His eyes darkened.
A deep rage rose, uncontrollable.
— Answer properly, Nari.
— I… I told you no one…
He exploded.
He grabbed her wrists.
Pulled her backward.
Made her fall onto the couch with a brutality she had never seen from him.
She let out a small cry.
Surprised.
Her back hit the cushion.
Sion leaned over her, eyes shining with anger, fear, and confusion.
He pinned her wrists against the cushion.
And repeated, each syllable cut like a knife:
— To. Whom. Did. You. Speak. About my mother, Nari?
His voice vibrated.
With rage.
With panic.
And something else:
the terror of losing control.
Nari tried to pull away, her wrists twisted under Sion's brutal grip.
— Sion, you're hurting me… I told you no one, I swear…
But he didn't hear her.
Or rather: he wasn't listening to anything anymore.
His face wasn't his—just a furious distortion, a mask of pure rage.
— Listen to me carefully, you little bitch.
His voice cracked like a whip.
— Your tongue is a little too loose for my taste.
He leaned closer, his burning breath against her face.
— You're the only one who knows about my mother.
He tightened his grip, his fingers like steel crushing the fragile skin of Nari's wrists.
— So stop lying before I really get angry.
The pain shot through her like an electric shock.
She gasped, her heart rising into her throat.
Every bit of softness, every bit of tenderness Sion had reserved for her for weeks had vanished.
Evaporated.
Gone.
He was nothing but a broken man, paranoid, overflowing with a violence she already knew… but never directed at her.
— Sion… you're scaring me… whispered Nari, turning her head away, a tear sliding down her cheek.
Those words froze the air.
He let go of her suddenly, stepped back—but it wasn't regret.
Nor guilt.
It was something darker.
An internal struggle.
An animal instinct barely held back.
Then, in a voice low, with no room for discussion:
— Tomorrow, you're not going to work.
He pointed a finger at her.
— You stay with me.
He paused, ice-cold.
— And you don't take your eyes off me.
Nari stayed frozen a moment.
Then something snapped inside her.
A limit.
A thread he had pulled too hard.
She sprang up on the couch, towering over him despite her small size, fists clenched, anger rising like a geyser.
— No! NO!
Her voice trembled, but she didn't back down.
— I'm going to work!
She pointed at him, furious.
— Are you insane or what?!
Sion stepped toward her.
One step.
Enough to make the whole room vibrate.
He stared at her, eyes locked into hers—two black abysses.
— You're going to do what I say. Understood?
Every word was a blade.
Nari didn't look away.
Not this time.
She felt her fear turn into something else.
Resistance.
A cold rage.
She stepped toward him too, until she felt the heat of his skin, until their breaths mixed, until nothing remained but the two of them, face to face—two storms ready to erupt.
— No.
Her voice vibrated, firm, unbreakable.
— Whether you like it or not, I'm going to work.
She stared straight into his eyes.
— Got it?
Sion's gaze wavered.
A sick flicker.
A mix of panic, rage, pure possession.
And before Nari even understood—
He was on her.
Not to hold her.
Not to calm her.
But to empty something, an animal overflow exploding under his skin.
He grabbed her by the nape, crushed his lips onto hers, a brutal kiss, ravenous, without tenderness, where his teeth hit hers, where his burning breath forced itself between her tightened lips.
— Sion… stop… she tried, stepping back, her voice cut.
But he was already too far gone.
His hand slid under her T-shirt.
Then lower.
Too low.
Too fast.
His fingers searched, insisted, as if touching her skin could soothe the storm drilling through his brain.
Nari tried to close her legs, to push him away, but Sion forced the kiss even more, holding her face, his mouth crushing hers, his tongue imposed, his breath shaking against her cheeks.
— Sion, stop!
Her voice broke against his mouth.
She struggled, her nails sliding against his torso, her hands pushing, scratching.
Panic rising suddenly, cold and paralyzing.
Then—
she found strength.
Nari placed both hands on his chest and shoved with everything she had, a strangled cry tearing from her throat.
Sion stumbled back a step, surprised, breathless, eyes dilated, as if waking from a feverish dream.
— Nari…
— You've gone completely insane!! she screamed, voice shredded, tears falling without her noticing.
She shoved him again, hitting him with the flat of her hand, hysterical, panicked, broken.
— Get out of my house!
Her chest rose and fell as if she were suffocating.
— I don't want to see you again!
Every word was a blade tearing her throat.
Sion froze.
His face changed.
The rage vanished instantly, swallowed by a black hole.
He blinked—once, twice—like someone waking too late, realizing what he'd just done.
— Nari… wait I—
But she was already screaming, sobbing, trembling.
She pushed him again, again, until the door.
And he didn't resist.
He looked at her, devastated, breathing ragged, his lips still red from the forced kiss, his eyes wide with a horror too late to stop.
She opened the door.
— Out.
Her hands trembled so hard she almost dropped the handle.
— Leave.
Sion lowered his head.
A second earlier, he had been a cyclone.
Now he was nothing but a shadow.
Silent.
Broken.
Lost.
He crossed the threshold.
Didn't say a word.
Didn't look back.
And when the door slammed behind him,
the silence exploded like a bomb.
Nari slid to the floor, her back against the door, arms wrapped around her legs, sobs shaking her entire body like waves.
Outside, in the hallway, Sion stood still for several seconds.
Then he walked away.
No sound.
No explanation.
Nothing but emptiness.
A chasm.
And a line he had just crossed.