𝑺𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒔 || Park Sunghoon

prologue

                                 
                                          ✎

The morning light crept gently through the latticework of Yeoreum’s window, spilling muted patterns across the room. She stirred, brow furrowed, remnants of a dream clinging to her mind like mist. The vision was elusive—a forgotten memory or perhaps something stranger. Flickers of a past life drifted in and out of reach, just fragments, a face half-hidden in shadows, soft whispers echoing through time. She struggled to hold onto them, but each moment slipped away as soon as it formed.

Yeoreum sat up, drawing a hand to her chest, feeling her heartbeat steadying beneath her palm. The familiar walls of her small chamber came into focus, grounding her. Shelves lined with carefully labeled jars of herbs and dried plants filled the space with earthy scents, a world she knew and understood. Yet the lingering feeling of that dream—a memory, perhaps?—left her uneasy.

Her gaze drifted around the room, taking in the faint glow of dawn touching every surface. But then, a subtle chill prickled her skin, an unshakable sense that she was not alone. In the dim light, her eyes caught the faintest outline—a shadow near the far corner, still as a statue. It was barely more than a silhouette, a figure cloaked in darkness, watching her with an intensity that felt both unsettling and familiar.

Her breath caught, heart racing again, louder in the silence. She couldn’t make out any details, yet the presence exuded something ancient, as though it had been there for lifetimes. The figure lingered, quiet and unmoving, just observing her. She fought the urge to speak, to break the stillness that held them both in its grip.

But then, just as quickly as she had sensed it, the shadow was gone, fading into the morning light, leaving only a faint echo in her mind and a sense of yearning she couldn’t explain. She sat in silence, her hand still resting against her heart, feeling as though something—or someone—had just touched the fabric of her life, a thread connecting her to a time long past, calling her back to a destiny she had yet to understand.

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