| It was a cold, misty night in the abandoned forest when she finally arrived at the coordinates EN7 had shared with her. She hadn’t seen Sunghoon in years—not since they were awkward teenagers at the academy. Back then, he was the brooding boy with dark, mysterious eyes, and she was the quiet witch who always had her nose in a spellbook. Unbeknownst to her, Sunghoon had harbored a secret crush on her during those days, but life had taken them down separate paths.

Now, she stood in the shadows of towering trees, clutching her spellbook as the six remaining members of EN7 briefed her.

“Sunghoon’s been struck by a powerful curse,” Jungwon, the group’s leader, explained. “A girl who fell in love with him tried to bind him with dark magic, but it twisted his mind instead. He’s targeting us one by one, and we can’t stop him alone. You, you’re the only witch strong enough to break the curse.”

Her heart sank. She could still picture the boy who had shared rare, shy smiles with her in class, now turned into something dangerous.

“I’ll do what I can,” she murmured, though fear churned in her gut.

The group ventured deeper into the woods, where a crumbling, moonlit cathedral loomed—a place Sunghoon had been using as his hideout. Inside, shadows flickered across the cracked stone walls. The air was heavy with tension, and Ria’s pulse quickened as they approached.

And then she saw him.

Sunghoon stepped out from the shadows, his once-gentle eyes cold . His expression was calculating, but for a moment, something familiar flickered in his gaze. The Sunghoon she used to know was still in there, beneath layers of magic.

“You,” he said, his voice low and dangerous, “I didn’t think you’d come.”

She hesitated. “I..”

and in an instant, His hand closed around her throat, lifting her off the ground, the spellbook fell from her grasp as she struggled, her legs kicking uselessly.

“You don’t know a thing about me,” Sunghoon hissed, his grip tightening. “You think you can save me? Fix me? You’re nothing.”