Episode--- 2
Night draped itself over the mansion, heavy as the secrets they shared.
Areum sat at her desk, medical journals spread around her, but her eyes refused to focus. Her mind kept drifting across the hall to him — Ryu Junseo, the man whose voice could command her very soul.
The ancient curse had always been clear: no one could kill them except each other. But the part no one else knew was worse. Junseo carried the divine command: a hidden power passed down through blood, giving him the ability to force her obedience with a single word.
She had never heard him use it. Not even when anger burned between them. Yet tonight, the memory of its existence scraped against her thoughts, raw and threatening.
---
A knock came at her door. Firm. Controlled.
She opened it to find Junseo leaning against the frame, dressed in dark slacks and a crisp shirt, the image of calm power. But his eyes held something sharper.
"We need to talk," he said.
His tone left no room for refusal. And because of what he was, Areum stepped aside without a word.
---
They stood in the quiet of her room, shadows from the rain-streaked window stretching across the floor.
"There's someone looking into the curse," Junseo began, his voice low. "A man who knows about the divine power we carry."
Areum stiffened. "What do you mean?"
"He approached Grandfather's old lawyer. Asked for records. He knows more than he should."
"And you think he's after us?" she whispered.
"I know he is," Junseo replied, his gaze cold. "And you're the key, Areum. You always have been."
---
She felt the old anger flare in her chest. "Don't talk to me like I'm some weakness."
"I'm not," he said quietly, but the steel in his tone didn't soften. "I'm reminding you of what's at stake."
For a breath, they stood frozen, hatred and fear and something else burning between them.
Then, almost too softly to hear, Junseo murmured a single word.
Her heart seized. The divine command brushed against her soul — a ghost of power he had never dared to use. And though he withdrew it before it could bind her completely, Areum's breath trembled in her chest.
"You see?" he said. "I don't want to control you. But I will if it keeps you alive."
---
When he left, the rain had stopped. But the storm between them had only begun.
Areum pressed a hand to her chest, feeling the echo of his command lingering there like a bruise. Even now, even as enemies, he was still the only person she trusted to protect her.
And the only one she feared.....
Teaser for Ep 3
An unexpected ally offers Areum forbidden knowledge about the curse.
A memory of childhood surfaces — and it might change everything they believe about each other.
And Junseo discovers a truth that terrifies even him.
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See you in Episode 3!