The underground shrine hummed like a living thing in pain.
Golden veins flickered across the trunk of the massive tree. Cracks spidered slowly along its surface, glowing brighter each time Min-Jae's heart skipped.
Baek Do-Yun stepped fully into the light.
He looked nothing like a villain.
No dark cloak. No dramatic wind.
Just a well-fitted black coat, hands casually tucked into his pockets, like he'd arrived slightly early to a dinner reservation.
"I must say," Do-Yun sighed pleasantly, glancing around the shrine, "I expected something more… hidden."
Min-Jae looked between him and Seo-Ha.
"You two know each other."
Seo-Ha's jaw tightened. "Unfortunately."
Do-Yun placed a hand over his chest in mock offense. "Seo-Ha, that hurts. I trained you."
Min-Jae blinked. "Trained?"
Seo-Ha stepped slightly in front of him.
"He betrayed the Chronicle Keepers."
"Betrayed?" Do-Yun echoed lightly. "I improved efficiency."
The Golden Heart shuddered again.
Min-Jae flinched. "Can everyone stop talking like we're in a corporate meeting while the giant glowing tree is dying?"
Do-Yun's eyes slid toward him.
Warm. Polite.
Dangerous.
"You feel it too," Do-Yun said softly.
Min-Jae swallowed. "…Feel what?"
"The pulse."
The villain took one step forward.
The golden veins flared.
Min-Jae's chest tightened in response.
"Every time your heart races," Do-Yun continued, "the Golden Heart responds."
Min-Jae let out a strained laugh. "Wow. Romantic. I break reality with anxiety."
Seo-Ha grabbed his wrist.
"Don't react," she whispered urgently. "Stay calm."
"Stay calm?" he hissed. "There's a smiling maniac in an underground magic tree shrine!"
Do-Yun chuckled.
"Oh, I'm not a maniac," he corrected gently. "I'm practical."
He raised one hand.
The air shifted.
The petals around the tree froze mid-spin.
The shrine dimmed.
Min-Jae felt something clamp around his thoughts.
Not pain.
Pressure.
Like invisible hands testing the shape of his existence.
Seo-Ha stepped forward.
"You cannot control him."
Do-Yun tilted his head. "Control? No."
His gaze flicked back to Min-Jae.
"I simply want to understand him."
The tree cracked again.
A deeper fracture split down the trunk.
Min-Jae winced.
"Okay, that's definitely connected to me."
Do-Yun smiled wider.
"Very good."
He extended his hand toward Min-Jae.
"Come here."
Min-Jae stared. "You're going to have to sell that better."
Do-Yun's expression didn't change.
"You are a mistake," he said calmly. "Time was never meant to split for you."
Seo-Ha's grip tightened.
"He is not a mistake."
Do-Yun looked at her almost kindly.
"You were sent back to erase him."
Silence fell like a dropped stone.
Min-Jae blinked.
"…Excuse me?"
Seo-Ha's fingers trembled.
"I was sent to locate the Golden Heart," she said carefully.
"To stabilize it," Do-Yun corrected smoothly. "And stabilization requires removing anomalies."
Min-Jae stared at her.
"You were sent to erase me?"
Her silence lasted half a second too long.
That half second felt like a fracture inside his ribs.
Do-Yun watched the shift in Min-Jae's expression with interest.
"There it is," he murmured.
The Golden Heart responded instantly.
A surge of light burst from the cracks.
Petals exploded outward.
The shrine shook violently.
Min-Jae staggered back as the tree's veins flared blinding gold.
Seo-Ha grabbed his shoulders.
"Min-Jae, listen to me."
"Did you know?" he demanded.
Her eyes were fierce, not guilty.
"Yes," she said.
The word landed heavy.
"But I chose not to."
The tree pulsed.
Min-Jae's anger flared again.
The ground cracked.
Stone tiles shattered beneath his feet.
Do-Yun's smile faded slightly.
"Ah," he said quietly. "Emotionally volatile. That's inconvenient."
He snapped his fingers.
The air twisted.
A ring of golden chains formed around Min-Jae, hovering inches from his body.
Min-Jae yelped. "Nope. Absolutely not."
Seo-Ha stepped between them.
"You freeze time to stop suffering," she said sharply. "But you don't understand it."
Do-Yun's eyes darkened for the first time.
"I understand it very well."
The temperature dropped.
Min-Jae suddenly felt a weight of memory that wasn't his—
A battlefield.
Smoke.
A city frozen mid-scream.
Do-Yun standing alone while everything else stood still.
The vision vanished.
Min-Jae inhaled sharply.
Do-Yun lowered his hand.
"Love," the villain said quietly, almost tiredly, "is the reason time fractures."
He gestured to the tree.
"You. Her. That connection."
Seo-Ha's voice steadied.
"Love is why it heals."
The Golden Heart flickered between dim and bright.
As if undecided.
Min-Jae looked at Seo-Ha.
"You were going to erase me," he said softly.
She met his eyes.
"I was ordered to."
"Same difference."
"No," she said.
Her voice didn't shake.
"The moment I saw you freeze time without fear… I knew you were not a threat."
The chains around him flickered.
Min-Jae stared at her.
"Without fear?"
"You made a joke," she said. "No one jokes when the sky breaks."
He blinked.
"…That's because panic doesn't help."
The Golden Heart flared brighter.
Do-Yun watched closely.
"Fascinating."
He lifted his hand again.
But this time—
Min-Jae stepped forward.
"I'm tired of everyone talking like I'm a glitch," he said.
His voice was shaking.
But steady enough.
"If I'm a mistake, fine. But I didn't choose this."
The tree responded instantly.
Golden veins surged.
The hovering chains shattered into dust.
Do-Yun's eyes widened slightly.
"Ah," he breathed.
Seo-Ha looked at Min-Jae in disbelief.
The Golden Heart pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat.
For the first time—
It wasn't cracking.
It was glowing.
Do-Yun's smile slowly returned.
"Interesting."
He adjusted his coat.
"I will not force this."
Min-Jae blinked. "Oh. That's… nice?"
Do-Yun looked amused.
"Because forcing you would break it further."
He turned, stepping backward into shadow.
"But remember this, Kang Min-Jae."
The shrine dimmed around him.
"The Golden Heart does not reward love without cost."
His gaze flicked briefly to Seo-Ha.
"And she knows the price."
The darkness swallowed him.
Silence fell.
The Golden Heart's glow softened.
Min-Jae exhaled shakily.
"…Okay."
He looked at Seo-Ha.
"I feel like I missed several important briefings."
She stared at the tree.
"It's worse than before," she whispered.
Min-Jae followed her gaze.
The largest crack along the trunk glowed deep gold.
A petal drifted down slowly.
When it touched the ground—
It turned to ash.
Seo-Ha closed her eyes.
"If we change time again…"
Her voice trembled for the first time.
"…someone will lose a memory."
Min-Jae frowned.
"What kind of memory?"
She opened her eyes.
The answer sat heavy between them.
"A precious one."
Min-Jae looked at the glowing tree.
Then at her.
Then back at the crack spreading slowly across the Golden Heart.
"…You really should've led with that."