Your hand trembled so violently you could barely keep the blood-soaked cloth pressed against the gash in your arm.

Shit.

It hurt.

Not the kind of pain you could grit your teeth through. It burned, throbbed, tore through your nerves until your vision blurred around the edges. You weren't sure how you were still conscious.

What had done this to you?

You had no idea.

In a world where ordinary people couldn't see curses, somehow... now you could.

Great.

The moment you spotted it, every instinct screamed at you to run. So you did. You sprinted all the way home, adrenaline drowning out the pain until you slammed the front door behind you.

But what good was a locked door against something you couldn't understand?

For all you knew, it could burst through your window at any second.

Or worse...

It could already be inside.

Your pulse hammered in your ears as you forced yourself to glance around the dark house. Every shadow looked wrong. Every creak made your heart leap into your throat.

The only reason you even knew curses existed was because of your ex-boyfriend.

Choso.

A curse himself.

He had always reassured you that ordinary humans weren't their prey—that you would never have to fear them.

Yet here you were.

Bleeding onto your own floor with your arm sliced wide open.

Your gaze drifted toward your phone.

You were helpless. Weak. Against whatever had attacked you, you didn't stand a chance.

But Choso...

Choso wasn't helpless.

He was the strongest person you'd ever known.

Months had passed since the two of you broke up. Months since you'd heard his voice. Months since you'd convinced yourself to stop reaching for your phone whenever something reminded you of him.

You still loved him.

That hadn't changed.

If you called him now...

Would he answer?

Would he come?

—

Choso lay half-asleep on the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Sleep rarely found him anymore.

Before meeting you, emotions had been little more than distant concepts. He understood loyalty. Duty. Brotherhood.

Love had been something other people felt.

Then you walked into his life and quietly became the center of it.

Even now, months after the breakup, nothing had changed.

He still loved you.

If you asked, he would return in a heartbeat. He would hold your hands, kiss your knuckles, apologize for every mistake he made—even the ones that weren't entirely his fault.

He still didn't understand human relationships.

Didn't understand dating.

Didn't understand sex.

Didn't understand how two people could promise forever one day... and become strangers the next.

How could someone become your entire world...

...and then simply disappear from it?

The sharp buzz of his phone broke the silence.

His eyes opened.

You had taught him how to use the thing, patiently laughing every time he forgot where the messages were or accidentally silenced a call.

Even now, months later, he still caught himself expecting your name to light up the screen.