Chapter Eight: The Man Beneath the Mask
The next morning, Sheila arrived at school earlier than usual. She didn't know why—something just pulled her. The air was heavy with anticipation, like a page on the verge of turning.
Jiwoon was already there.
He stood alone on the rooftop — the same rooftop where she had first seen Hyunsoo weeks ago — gazing at the Seoul skyline like he was trying to remember something he couldn't put into words.
She hesitated before stepping out.
He turned before she said anything.
"I saw you," he said softly. "Last night."
Her heart slammed into her ribs. "In a dream?"
"No. A memory."
---
⚜️
Jiwoon stepped closer.
"I was standing in the war chamber again. You were arguing with me. I told you not to trust him. I remember the sword on the table. The maps. The cold."
His voice lowered.
"I remember being angry."
Sheila didn't breathe.
"I remember... wanting you."
Their eyes met.
"And I remember knowing you loved someone else."
Sheila took a step back.
Jiwoon's face twisted slightly. "But I don't know if I hated him… or if I hated you."
She shook her head. "You don't mean that. That was another life."
He stepped forward. "Then why do I still feel it?"
The air thickened.
Sheila's pendant began to glow faintly — reacting to the rising energy between them.
"You're remembering too quickly," she whispered.
"I can't help it."
He reached for her hand — and for a moment, she didn't pull away.
"I don't want to be your enemy," Jiwoon said. "But I don't think I was ever your ally either."
A flicker of silver light passed behind his eyes.
Sheila's breath caught. "You're awakening."
"I feel... stronger. Like something inside me is cracking open."
He took her hand, gently now. "But when I look at you... it calms. It softens. I don't want to lose you again."
And then—
He kissed her.
---
It wasn't like Hyunsoo's.
It was soft. Desperate. A plea wrapped in warmth.
But she felt it — a ripple beneath the tenderness. Something… wrong.
Her pendant flared.
She pushed him back.
"Jiwoon, wait."
His pupils shifted. Silver glinted at the edges.
"You're not just remembering. Something's taking over."
He froze.
Then… his expression changed.
Pain. Shame. Rage.
He staggered back, clutching his head. "There's something inside me—someone else."
"Someone else?"
"She's whispering to me," he gasped. "A woman. Her voice… it calls me a traitor. It tells me I was the end of the Moon Queen."
"No—no, Jiwoon, listen to me."
But his breathing grew erratic.
His eyes glowed.
And the wind around them shifted.
---
Suddenly, Hyunsoo appeared behind her.
Blade drawn. Voice calm but deadly.
"Sheila. Step away from him."
"No!" she shouted. "He's not fully gone."
Hyunsoo's eyes were ice. "That's not Jiwoon anymore."
"Don't touch him!"
Jiwoon looked between them. Confusion warred with fury in his gaze. "Why are you always protecting him?"
"Because he never lied to me."
Jiwoon's lips curled into a bitter smile. "Then you deserve to be betrayed again."
His hands ignited in violet flame.
Hyunsoo moved instantly, shielding Sheila as the rooftop exploded with magic.
---
⚔️
Jiwoon fought like someone possessed — fast, unrelenting, unstable. His attacks weren't trained; they were feral. Wild magic cracked the cement, bent the railings, and shattered glass.
Hyunsoo blocked each strike with clean precision. Moonlight glowed along his blade, his movements a perfect dance of control.
"Sheila!" he shouted. "You have to break the bond. He's channeling the Queen's soul fragment — the corrupted one."
"I don't know how!"
"You do!" He turned to her. "You're the only one who ever did!"
Her heart pounded. She reached for the pendant.
Focused.
Closed her eyes.
> "Jiwoon… if any part of you still remembers me—
The garden. The day you gave me that jade ring.
The night I forgave you—
Then come back."
She felt the magic answer.
The pendant blazed. A gust of wind swept outward from her body, forming a protective sphere of lunar light.
Jiwoon collapsed inside it, screaming, the flames on his hands dying.
The light peeled something off him — like shadow separating from skin.
And from the remnants of his aura… a second figure emerged.
A woman.
Tall. Pale. Dressed in black.
Her eyes burned red.
"The throne will never be yours again," she hissed.
Then she vanished into dust.
---
Jiwoon lay unconscious.
Hyunsoo helped Sheila to her feet.
"That wasn't just memory," she whispered. "That was possession."
He nodded grimly. "That was her. Your sister. The Night Queen."
---
☽
They took Jiwoon to the hidden hanok.
Heeyoung examined him while Sheila sat on the edge of the bed, watching him breathe.
Hyunsoo stood at the doorway, arms crossed, gaze unreadable.
"You still care for him," he said quietly.
"I don't know what part of him is real anymore."
Hyunsoo's voice was bitter. "Love doesn't care. It always chooses the most dangerous hearts."
She looked up. "Do you hate me for it?"
He didn't answer.
He just walked away.