— You… want to pull away from me? he whispered, voice trembling and dangerous.
It wasn't anger anymore.
It was worse.
It was his heart imploding beneath his ribs.
He ran a hand through his hair, frantic, unable to stay still, his chest rising and falling too fast.
— You… want to breathe away from me?
Away.
From.
Me?
Each syllable cracked like a whip.
His eyes were turning wild.
Red.
Wet.
Hurting.
He shook his head, stepped back, stepped forward, lost himself, tried to regain control, failed again.
— I… I'm trying… I do everything…
Everything for you, Nari…
Everything…
Do you understand… everything…
His words broke one after another.
He wanted to scream.
He wanted to cry.
He wanted to collapse.
He wanted to pull her into his arms.
But he was trapped inside a body that knew only one thing:
the fear of being abandoned.
And fear…
inside Sion…
always became violence.
Even when he fought with everything he had to keep it from happening.
A tear slipped down his cheek.
He wiped it away violently,
like a man who refuses himself the right to break.
— You want a normal life…? he repeated in a choked whisper.
— A life… without me…?
He stepped toward her.
One step.
Then another.
Each step trembled.
Each step tore him in half.
He stopped in front of her.
Looked at her as if his entire existence depended on her answer.
— Say it, Nari.
Tell me you want distance.
I want to hear it.
From your mouth.
Nari drew back slightly, her heart pounding, her eyes burning with tears.
Because she knew.
She knew that what she was about to say…
would change everything.
The room suddenly became too small for them.
Too tight to contain everything they felt.
Nari inhaled, tried to steady her voice.
— Not at all… I don't want a life without you, Sion…
But today… at Aera's… I had fun.
And it helped me… a little… to forget what happened yesterday…
She didn't even get to finish.
Sion stopped.
Cold.
As if someone had ripped the entire machinery of his body to a halt.
His gaze hollowed out.
Or rather—it filled with something black, deep, murderous.
— … Where were you last night?
His voice was flat.
Too calm.
The calm before the storm.
Nari swallowed.
— At Aera's…
You know, she really helped me… I'm lucky she was there…
The word Aera detonated inside Sion's skull like a grenade.
He straightened sharply.
His breathing turned jagged, uncontrollable.
He was trying—really trying—to stay calm.
But the anger was boiling, rising, swelling inside his veins.
— Wait… wait…
He raised a hand, as if trying to push back an invisible wave.
Then everything snapped.
— Nari… are you telling me you were having FUN at that WHORE'S place while I was out of my fucking mind looking for you?!
While I was in a HOLDING CELL?!!
The violence of his voice shook the air.
Nari froze.
A cold fear climbed up her spine.
She couldn't even breathe properly.
— Do you realize that if she hadn't been there, I had NO ONE!!! she screamed back, walking toward him, tears bursting on their own.
Her voice cracked mid-sentence.
Sion didn't see her tears.
Or he refused to.
Or he couldn't anymore.
He grabbed her face between his hands.
Too hard.
Much too hard.
His fingers dug into her cheeks, her jaw—
as if he needed to hold her life in place.
— You had ME, he spat, eyes wild, burning.
— You're supposed to have ONLY me.
ONLY me, do you hear me?!
His voice turned into something like a plea.
— You don't need ANYONE else.
You should live for me the way I live for you.
You should die for me… the way I would die for you.
The room spun around Nari.
Her heart slammed so violently she thought it would tear free from her chest.
She couldn't speak.
Couldn't think.
Couldn't move.
He slammed her against the wall.
A harsh, sharp impact that knocked the breath out of her lungs.
— YOU TOLD ME you would die for me!
That you were MINE! Only mine!!
He was shouting.
Breaking.
Begging.
Exploding.
All at once.
— YOU PROMISED!!
Fuck, Nari… YOU PROMISED that you had only me!
That you needed ONLY me!!
His fist flew—
Not toward her—
never directly.
But right beside her head.
He hit the wall so hard the plaster shattered, the paint cracking like torn skin.
His hand slipped.
His knuckles slammed violently against the side of Nari's skull.
A dull sound.
Violent.
Clean.
The world froze.
One second of silence.
A second where they stopped being two people,
and became two ruins.
Sion stepped back instantly, horrified.
As if his own body had betrayed him.
— Nari…
His voice wasn't a voice anymore.
It was a breath.
A ghost.
— … Nari…
He backed up again.
Again.
As if he had just watched himself commit a murder he never meant to commit.
His back hit the bed.
His fingers trembled.
His lips trembled.
His eyes trembled.
He was beginning to understand…
He was starting to see—
What he was becoming.
What he truly was.
And it destroyed him.
Nari lifted a hand to the spot where he had struck her, her eyes wide, her legs shaking, her breath cut short.
They stared at each other.
Two hearts that had tried to love each other to death.
And that had, for the first time,
touched
the exact place
where love turns into devastation.
Nari, her back pressed against the cracked plaster, stared into nothing.
Something died in her eyes.
Something deep.
Something vital.
And Sion… saw it.
She inhaled.
Once.
Twice.
Like someone about to jump from a rooftop.
Then her voice fell—
a murmur,
a breath barely human.
— It's over…