|THE CURSED FOREST|

60

"The curse on vampires wasn't the first and only time I ever cursed," Jin confessed, his voice thick with emotion.

"Seeing the land I created with care and love being ravaged, I invoked a curse that took the divinity from my Minerva. But when I witnessed a human entwined with one of my divine Minerva's creatures, I invoked an even more brutal curse." Jin's voice trembled, his eyes clouded with regret and sorrow.

Hoseok, standing beside him on the cliff overlooking Minosan, felt the heaviness of Jin's words weighing on his heart, his brow furrowing with concern.

"The reason why I wanted to help Yeonjun, why I let my lineage, my Sohee's life at risk... the reason why the legend like Naera hated me so much, why you the god of death hates me so much." Hoseok listened in silence, knowing the gravity of Jin's actions.

"Is because I cursed the Minosan Choi clan to live their life in misery and suffering." Jin admitted, his words heavy with remorse.

"The clan which Yeonjun belongs to. Clan of Psychic Asaya and human Choi San."

•••

Outside the fort, Naera stood with a nervous energy, her fingers fidgeting.

"I've never seen Lady Naera this nervous." Yoongi said as approached her.

Surprised by his presence, Naera turned to face him. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I wanted to thank you for releasing my Mayra and Mayu," Yoongi replied, his voice filled with gratitude as he bowed respectfully. "I thought I had lost my only family for millennia, but..."

"It's okay, Yoongi," Naera interrupted, her tone tinged with bitterness as she averted her gaze. "Everyone else seems to have gotten what they wanted- you got your wife and daughter back, Sunghoon can see Eunjae again, Jin and his lineage are safe and thriving. But me?"

A pang of sadness flickered in Yoongi's eyes as he listened to Naera's trembling voice.

"Thousands of years ago, Jin cursed my family..." Naera's voice quivered with emotion as tears streamed down her cheeks, her grip tightening on the fabric of her clothing.

"And when I came back from death... Sunghoon had killed my Namjoon."

"Does Yeonjun know about this?" he asked cautiously, his voice filled with concern. "That he belongs to your ancestry..."

Naera let out a bitter scoff, her gaze piercing as she turned to face Yoongi.

"You and your Jin gang tried your best to hide the fact that he comes from a psychic family, didn't you? Telling him a vampire can use telekinesis when it was his psychic bloodline that was suppressed and came out due to vampirism! Or he has to die because of his soulmate who belongs to Jin's bloodline when it wasn't the case! Yes. Yes, I told him everything."

"I told him what Sohee and Soobin had, a family, rich and healthy life was something that he could have if not for the almighty lord's curse." Naera spat, her voice rising with each word.

"That, the reason why his health was so weak before he was a child, why he suffered all this time for absolutely no reason, why his parents and his family, grandparents, great-grandparents died early due to accidents or poor health including him BECAUSE OF JIN'S CURSE!" Her words echoed with disgust as she fought to contain her overwhelming emotions.

•••

In the midst of December, Minosan awaited snowfall, but instead, the sky crackled with thunder, signalling the arrival of a supernatural disaster and the presence of evil.