Silence lingered long after the light died.
Not the suffocating kind — but something fragile, suspended, trembling between stillness and awakening.
The hum of the Core had faded to a heartbeat's whisper. Scorched circuits smoked in the dark, their glow ebbing like dying stars. Dust drifted through the air, catching what little light remained — a constellation of ruin.
And at the center of it, Seo Jin stood perfectly still.
Half of him shimmered faintly in pale luminescence; the other half was touched by shifting shadow. His hair clung to his forehead, damp with sweat, his chest heaving as though the world itself weighed on each breath.
Li Ran took a step forward — slowly, carefully, like approaching a sleeping god.
"Jin…?" His voice cracked on the name.
For a heartbeat, nothing.
Then Seo Jin blinked — once, twice — and lifted his gaze.
When their eyes met, Li Ran's breath caught.
One iris was molten gold — alive, alert, human.
