The world seemed to shrink into the space between their hands.
Ravion's palm hovered before her like an invitation carved from fate itself, ancient, forbidden, and strangely gentle. Hana felt the warmth radiating from him, a warmth that didn't belong to demons or shadows, a warmth that confused her as much as it comforted her.
Her fingers curled toward his.
But before they could touch…
The wind shifted.
A coldness swept the alley, slithering across her skin like a warning whispered directly into her bones.
Ravion stiffened.
His eyes, moments ago soft with something almost human, snapped upward toward the rooftops. Crimson flashed. The shadows behind them rippled, alive, watching.
"Do not be afraid," Ravion murmured, though Hana could hear the tightness in his voice. "We're not alone."
A chill spilled down her spine.
"Someone's here?" she whispered.
"No."
His hand closed into a fist.
"Something."
Before she could respond, the darkness in the alley stretched forward, peeling away from the walls like living ink.
And then...
A voice.
Low.
Broken.
So close it felt like it came from inside her skull.
"Hana…"
Her heart stopped.
That was her name.
Not spoken.
Not heard.
But felt.
"Ravion…" She pressed a hand against her chest. "Something just....called me."
He turned sharply to her, his expression twisting with a mix of fury and fear she had never seen before.
"Look at me," he ordered.
She did. And for a moment, she forgot how to breathe.
His eyes weren't crimson, they were black. Completely. Each iris drowned in shadow.
"Ravion… your eyes...."
"It's responding," he muttered. "The darkness. It knows you now."
"Knows me? What does that even mean? What's happening?"
He didn't answer.
Because the alley itself began to change.
The streetlamps flickered once… twice…
Then died.
Total blackness swallowed them.
Hana reached blindly for Ravion, but the air felt wrong. Colder. Wet. The smell of the city, the lingering scents of street food, rainwater, exhaust, washed away as though the world had been wiped clean.
A distant thrum rose in the silence.
A heartbeat.
Not hers.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
And then,
"Hana…"
The voice came again. Closer. More certain.
Calling her.
Her breath hitched. "Ravion....Ravion, talk to me. Where are you?"
"I'm here." His voice echoed strangely from behind her. "Do not move."
But she could feel it.
Something else was beside her.
Breathing in sync with her own.
Leaning close to her ear.
A whisper brushed her skin,
"Finally found you…"
Hana screamed.
Ravion appeared instantly, pulling her into his arms. His body was hot, almost burning, yet she clung to him like a lifeline.
As he held her, the darkness recoiled, swirling back like smoke dragged by an invisible wind. The heartbeat faded. The whisper dissolved.
And light snapped back.
They were in the alley again.
Streetlamps humming softly overhead.
Seoul's distant traffic returning like a returning tide.
Hana clutched Ravion tightly, her heart battering against his chest.
"What… what was that?"
He didn't release her. If anything, he held her tighter.
"A call," he said.
"A claim."
"A part of the curse that should never have awakened in your presence."
She pulled back just enough to see his face.
"Why did it say my name?"
He hesitated.
Not good.
Not good at all.
"It means," he whispered, "you're no longer just a girl caught between fate and danger."
Her throat tightened. "Then what am I?"
Ravion lifted his hand, touching two fingers gently under her chin so she would look directly at him.
"You," he said, "are the key to a power the darkness has slept beside for centuries. And now, because of me, it's awake."
"Because of you? Ravion, I don't understand..."
"You shouldn't be able to hear them," he cut in. "Humans don't hear their voices. Humans don't draw them out. Unless…"
He stopped.
"Unless what?"
Ravion shook his head. "Unless they've been marked."
Hana froze.
"The mark on my wrist…" she whispered.
Ravion's eyes darkened again, not with magic this time, but regret.
"Yes. That night under the streetlights… when I touched you. It should have never happened. You should have never seen what you saw."
"So… you marked me?"
"No," he said firmly. "The curse reacted. I didn't do it intentionally."
"Then why does it feel like all of this is my fault?"
Ravion's voice softened. "Because you're human. Humans blame themselves for the weight of the world. But listen to me, this is my curse. My world. My shadow. You stepped into it by accident."
He curled his hands into fists.
"I will get you out."
Her heart clenched.
"Do you want me gone that badly?"
He flinched as though struck.
"No," he said tightly. "You don't understand, Hana. If you stay too close… the darkness won't just whisper your name. It will take it."
Before she could process the meaning of those words, a rumble echoed overhead.
Ravion snapped his gaze upward again.
From the rooftop, a pair of blood-red symbols glowed, then vanished.
"Ravion…?" she whispered.
"They're watching."
"The Hunters?"
"No." His jaw tightened. "Something far worse."
He grabbed her hand without another word.
"Come."
"Where are we going?"
"To the hidden side of Seoul," he said.
"Where the shadows cannot reach you."
She stumbled after him, heart racing.
"But… just now you said..."
"Yes," he replied. "I said I shouldn't bring you into my world."
"Then why are you?"
Ravion stopped walking. Slowly, he turned back to her.
The night wind tugged at his hair. His crimson eyes glowed, not with danger, but with something heartbreakingly conflicted.
"Because," he said quietly,
"the darkness called your name."
"And I won't let anything answer it."
Hana swallowed hard.
"Ravion…"
He brushed a stray hair from her face with a tenderness that didn't match the monster he claimed to be.
"Stay close," he whispered.
"From this moment, every shadow has its eyes on you."
Her pulse thundered.
Her fingers trembled.
But she didn't let go of his hand.
Not this time.
And as they stepped into the deeper, unseen part of the city, Hana felt it, a shift in the air, like a curtain lifting, revealing a Seoul she had never known existed.
One where demons breathed.
Where magic lived.
Where danger walked the streets…
…and whispered her name.