Legend [YEONBIN] ✓

forty-four ; soobin

I watched the door close behind Yeonjun. I’d barely pulled the curtains around me when I’d heard him coming in.

“I know what you’ll say,” I said as I sat in the wide visitor’s chair beside Halmeoni. “I’m a coward. And you’re right, but I’m not ready to see him. Not yet.”

I picked up the hand that Yeonjun had just put down. I thought I felt a spark as I rubbed her fingers over Halmeoni’s soft skin. A part of me wanted to believe he’d left it there, a piece of him that I could hold on to. And the rest of me, the smart part of me, knew it was foolish to read into a bit of static shock.

Then I closed my eyes and opened myself to Halmeoni’s energy. Not to siphon it, but to measure it. Because I had a good idea why Halmeoni wasn’t waking up.

There it was, weak like a fading star, Halmeoni’s waning gi. It was as I had feared: She’d given so much to Yeonjun that she barely had any left. And she was trapped in this unconscious limbo. It seemed I had stolen a life that night even though I’d failed to kill to feed.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “I never meant for any of this to happen.”

“He’d never forgive me if he knew what I did.” I brought Halmeoni’s hand to my cheek. “Do you think it’s selfish that I’m hoping not to tell him? I don’t want him to remember me as a monster. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but please let me try to save you. For him and for me.”