Meant to be -Hyunsung-

𝓔𝓘𝓖ℋ𝑇

WELCOME BACKKKKK!!! ITS BEEN MORE THAN A YEARRR!!!

The silence in Sakura's office was suffocating.

Books lined the walls, untouched. Moonlight filtered through the tall windows, casting pale stripes across the floor. Sakura sat motionless on the velvet couch, her knees drawn to her chest, the blood long scrubbed from her skin but still drying beneath her nails. She hadn't spoken since her outburst.

Hyunjin stood near the window, arms crossed, jaw tight. His fingers drummed restlessly against his bicep, the only sign that he was barely keeping it together.

Jisung—Han, as only Hyunjin called him—sat on the floor beside the couch, knees bent, one arm resting lazily across them. His eyes flicked occasionally between the two, but mostly he just stared into space, lost in the gravity of what had happened.

No one knew what to say. Not yet.

Finally, Hyunjin broke the silence. "We have a body on our hands, Sakura. Not just any body. Alexander Williams."

Sakura didn't look up. "I know."

He turned sharply, his voice rising. "Do you? Do you really?"

"Hyunjin," Han said softly, but it was a warning.

Hyunjin looked over at him. Just a glance. But the heat in his eyes flickered—for a moment—when their gazes locked. Han held his stare longer than necessary, brows slightly drawn, the way he always looked when trying to reach him without saying too much.

"I wasn't thinking," Sakura muttered. "I panicked. I thought I could charm my way out of it, and when he touched me, something snapped."

"You didn't just kill him," Hyunjin said, quieter now. "You destroyed him."

Han stood, brushing off his pants. "She knows. She said it three times already. What we need is to figure out what's in that book before anyone notices he's missing."

Sakura reached slowly into her satchel and pulled out the book. Its dark aqua leather gleamed in the low light, the ancient sigil stamped on its front seeming to pulse with quiet power. She handed it to Han with trembling fingers.

As Han flipped carefully through the pages, Hyunjin stepped closer to him, peering over his shoulder.

"Careful," he said. "Some of these are protection spells. You might trigger something."

Han smiled faintly. "You're worried about me?"

Hyunjin didn't answer at first. He simply watched Han with a strange intensity, then mumbled, "You're the only one here with a brain right now."

"Aw, that almost sounded like a compliment," Han teased, bumping Hyunjin lightly with his shoulder.

Hyunjin looked at him, smirked despite himself, and shook his head. "Don't get used to it."

Sakura glanced up at the two of them. Something eased in her expression, just barely.

Han found a page that was marked with a slip of silver ribbon. "Here. This...this talks about sirens. Their origins, how their bloodline links to the Moon Accord."

"The Moon Accord?" Sakura repeated, now finally engaged.

Han nodded. "It's an ancient pact between magical bloodlines. Sirens, witches, shape-changers. It might be why Alexander was collecting all this knowledge—maybe he knew something about a coming breach in the Accord."

Hyunjin's eyes narrowed. "If he knew that much, then someone else will come looking for what he had."

"And if they find out he's dead," Han added, "they'll come looking for us."