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-third person pov-
"me? why would you fight over me? i'm not even that special and i-"
"next question." seohyun shut her mouth at how cold he sounded.
"the necklace. why did ankoku give it to me?"
"that necklace is something he gave to you in your past life but you were never bothered to wear it. it's an enchanted necklace that's meant to protect you from harm. that's why he wanted to give it to you again for you to wear."
minho abruptly stood up from where he sat and stretched his arms. while stretching, his back stretched; opening his wound more. minho yelped from the unexpected pain and fell to his knees.
"minho!!" seohyun yelled while running to his side and crouching down next to him.
"what happened?! is there anything i can do to help you or-" minho stood up from the ground and got out of seohyun's grip.
the overwhelming memories began to come back to minho's mind. he remembered the pain he went through everyday as a fallen. he remembered how worthless he felt as a human.
"let's go to ankoku. since it's only an illusion, whatever we do here doesn't affect the real world. we're gonna ask him about how to break free from these illusions." minho grabs her wrist and teleports them to ulleungdo island.
"i thought you're a human now since you're a fallen?!"
"it's an illusion tulip. i look like this but i still have my powers. it's all a mind game so everything looks different but you yourself are still the same." minho says before diving into the water.
following after him, seohyun jumped into the water.
the two of them swam deeper and deeper into the water. as the water temperature began to go down, seohyun's swimming began to weaken and the hanbok she was wearing wasn't helping.
minho turned to the side and took seohyun's hand into his. he helped her swim because he knew how much the cold water affected her unlike him.
once they reached the bottom of the water, minho pulled himself and seohyun out of the water and leaned her against a rock.
right after he placed her down, seohyun stood up from the ground and looked over at minho.
"i'm fine. let's go." seohyun's instincts took over and she took his hand into hers while dragging him towards the black river.
the two of them walked hand in hand and walked closer to the stone dock. minho walked close to the edge and yelled for ankoku.
"ANKOKU SHOW YOURSELF!" from beneath the water, ankoku's boat rose to the top with him sitting in it.
"you two are back again! except what's with the hanbok and cloak? what is this? joseo- are we in joseon?!" ankoku rambled.
"wait..why are you conscious? i thought it was just seohyun and i who got put into this illusion." minho asked.
all three of them were confused on what was happening.
"oh i see how it is." ankoku stood up from his boat and stepped onto the stone dock. "forget giving me something; get on the boat." ankoku demanded while leading the two of them to his boat.
once all three of them were settled in the small boat, ankoku began paddling further into the river.
"how do we break free from this illusion?"
"there is only one way that i know of but it's very cruel. you must kill the most important person to you in the illusion to be able to break free. for example maybe you'll kill your best friend in the illusion and they'll remain okay in the real world. you two could even kill each other but wake up completely fine and unharmed."
"how do we know if they're important to us though? what if you think this person is the most important but they aren't." seohyun asked.
"well then you're gonna go on a killing spree to find out. whatever happens in an illusion, does not affect or change what happens in the real world." ankoku says.
"but why are you here? why are you conscious when the illusion wasn't put on you?" minho asks while narrowing his eyes at ankoku.
"because i am ankoku. i'm a magic man and i'm conscious in any and every alternate universe or illusion. also, that necklace, make sure you wear it at all times seohyun. make sure no one takes it from you." ankoku says.
seohyun nods her head at the old man.
"you two should be careful though. it may just be an illusion but remember that an illusion makes you experience your worst fears. it may not hurt you physically, but it will mentally." ankoku warns the two.
both minho and seohyun nod their head at ankoku who focused on the river.
"you should leave now. something doesn't feel right. the waters are gonna be rough anytime soon. go now." ankoku immediately returns the boat to the dock and lets the two of them off.
"run and swim as fast as you can. something in this illusion is coming." akoku demands while sinking back into the water. minho grabs seohyun's wrist and runs off back to the water.
"get on my back. i'll swim for the both of us." minho demands. without arguing with him, seohyun jumps onto his back and wraps her arms around his shoulders.
minho leaped into the water with seohyun on his back. minho swam as fast as he could to reach the top of the water.
minho relied and trusted ankoku. there was never once a time when ankoku lied to minho.
minho had just reached the top of the water and pulled the both of them out the water. minho let out a large gasp for air before teleporting both him and seohyun back to the cave behind the waterfall.
minho placed seohyun down against the rocks and took off his cloak. he wrapped his cloak around seohyun and emits a small flame to keep the girl warm.
minho put his arm behind his back and placed it on his bare back; right on top of his wound.
"i'm nothing but a useless fallen. my powers are weak here, they're not as strong." he whispered to himself while looking at the sleeping girl. minho winced when his hand roughly brushed against the wound.
"you're not useless. you helped me and protected me when i couldn't do it myself. if you really were useless, you would've just stood by and watched." ——— i love minho. but i love soonie doonie and dori more😌🤩
