A/N: so uh... woah. this is definitely the longest chap that i've made for this fic ;; 10k words.. and i wrote this while having a flu so i'm kinda worried on what it would turn out bc it literally is waaaay different than what i've planned for seonghwa's route ending. this is the original one. :> i hope that you'll be enjoying this one tho hhh

i was literally confused and the music that's in my playlist isn't helping me out so thank you _dreamcollection for recommending some GREAT songs ;; tsukipro songs are sooo good ajakuaajgsjagagafahafaha yet the game's about to shut down in a few days ; ;) growth and quell songs are the best q wq

also! someone made a fanart for this fic! it is soooo beautiful and the artist's artworks are really great! please follow @/nylilcosmos in twt! she just kept on making a bunch of masterpiece! 😭💕

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“Who gave you the permission to enter my territory?!” The dragon cloaked in black and sharp scales said as he roared, standing proudly while looking down at the mortal.

The mortal smiled, "“I'm the prince of the kingdom nearby. Aurora.”

“I did not ask for your identity!” The dragon roared once again, “What I'm asking is who gave your permission to enter my territory?!”

“Oh.” The mortal chuckled, somehow embarrassed at his wrong response before standing straight, “It was the wizard of Aurora. He said that he's keeping a dragon here and maybe it needs some company.”

“The wizard?”

The mortal nodded, “Indeed.”

It was the wizard that lets him enter the mountain where the dragon resides, it only meant one thing. But the dragon is somehow confused with the mortal's actions, he should be petrified of being sent to this mountain. Being sent here means one thing- he is supposed to devour this mortal.

But he didn't even showed any of it. He's too composed and that smile makes the dragon want to weep. It seems familiar yet he couldn't grasp the memory at all.

“What did the wizard told you, mortal?”

“Well, he told me that it was one of the royal kingdom's task for me. I should enter this place and stay here for an entire day,” the prince said as he put his bag on the ground, “I never thought that there's a dragon here! I thought that it'll be elemental spirits that will be making me restless.”

“There are elemental spirits in this place and once that they've spotted a mortal, they won't hesitate on killing you. This is the place for the mystical creatures, mortals doesn't have the right to invade this.” The dragon firmly stated, still glaring at the prince.

“Really?” The dragon was surprised to see the prince's worried expression and wondered if it's because of the thought of being killed by the elementals, it's always like that. “I invaded your safety zone, please forgive me for my ruthless actions.”

“What?” The dragon's jaw dropped, looking at the mortal in disbelief.

“Is there something wrong, Mr. Dragon?”

“You’re worried of invading our safety zone instead of your safety?!” the dragon screams as he couldn’t even believe what the prince have stated, “You’re supposed to be worried about your life, mortal!”

“I should be.. but I feel bad for ruining the peace in this place,” the prince said, scratching his nape as he looked away from the huge creature “I wish that I could get out of here as soon as possible but it’s quite impossible right now.”

“Why?”

“The wizard told me that if I could survive for an entire day in this place, I will be the crowned prince. It’s quite a silly task because my brothers were assigned to conquer an another kingdom while I got this one,” the prince said, chuckling a bit and the dragon would be lying if that laugh didn’t made his breath hitch “It’s like an easy way to the crown and I feel bad for my brothers.”

“Who told the wizard to do such a thing?” the dragon asked.

The prince hummed a bit before leaning on a nearby tree, “It was my parents. The king and queen themselves! They told him to give me a task and he gave me one, gave me enough food to last a day and some sweets.”

The dragon couldn’t believe what the prince have said, the wizard have only let mortals enter this place to end up in such a terrible end. There’s only one purpose for the prince to arrive in this place— the wizard was assigned to ‘assassinate’ the prince. The sad thing about this is that it was the prince’s parents that ordered the wizard to do such a thing.

“Do you even have an idea what this place is?” the dragon asked, deciding to sit on the ground as his large wings were folded, “I’m quite sure that this place is well-known to your kingdom.”

“All I know is that it’s a forbidden place to enter unless the wizard says so,” the prince stated, blinking a few times as he looked up and met the dragon’s gaze, “Hey, Mr. Dragon! Have anyone told you that your eyes are pretty?”

“W-What?!”

“They’re so blue! The azure skies couldn’t even be any better than that and your grey and black scales is so pretty!” The prince said in awe, eyes sparkling in delight as he looked at the dragon.

“Stop it, mortal! F-Flattery won’t get you nowhere!” The dragon was threatening the prince that he’s about to let out an another roar if he continues on rambling about the dragon’s features, “Now, let’s get back to the main topic. You are in the realm of the mythical creatures and we forbid the mortals on staying here unless you’ve been wed to one of us. How are you going to survive if you don’t even have a connection with any of the creatures here?”

“I don’t know.” the prince simply says, “Whether I die or not is up to me anyway. If I won’t be able to survive until the sunrise then how unfortunate of me, at the very least, I’ve got to try doing something that I want to.”

“Fool.”

“My brothers says that a lot..”

“They’re a bunch of fools too. All mortals are fools, letting their sins overcome their sanity.”

“Please don’t say that. There are intellectual people out there.”

“You’re supposed to agree with me, mortal.”

“But still, that isn’t right at all.”

The dragon can’t help but groan in frustration, he couldn’t see through the prince at all. He doesn’t even know if he’s just putting up an act or he’s that dense, people like him wouldn’t last too long. Maybe this is why the wizard decided to throw him into this realm, he wouldn’t die in the hands of the mortal but with the creatures that resides here.

“Anyway, what is your plan?” The dragon stood as his wings spreads and caused huge shadows on the ground, “I can’t sense any malice in your words so I wouldn’t even dare to hurt you as long as you wouldn’t disturb me.”

“I’ve already caused a discord in this peaceful place so I’ll probably stay in this place until the sun rises,” the prince replies, smiling widely at him “Thank you, Mr. Dragon.”

“I don’t need your gratitude, mortal.” the dragon huffed, “I doubt that you’ll even last an hour alone in this area.”

“It’s alright. Whether I die or live is up to me,” the prince says as he waved his hands.

Fool. The dragon immediately flapped its wings as it caused a gust, immediately elevating himself from the ground but he looks at the prince for a while before immediately flying away. He doesn’t want to be dragged into a mess, he knew that the prince is meant to be killed when he was ordered to enter their realm. And with that kind of carelessness, he’s sure that the prince wouldn’t last an hour or two here.

But with just the thought of that smile makes him halt as if time had been frozen, he knew that humans are fragile and they could easily die. He knew that he shouldn’t even care for mortals, knowing how cunning and evil they are. But he couldn’t sense anything at the prince, only the annoying determination and the way he makes him feel fuzzy.

‘He’s going to die if he was left there..’

He was contemplating if he should return there or move into an another resting area and once again, he felt like he was connected or something towards the prince. The dragon lets out an another frustrated roar before landing on the ground and transforming into his mortal form, walking back to his usual resting place as he clenched his fists.

‘I shouldn’t care about mortals. They’re nothing but a bunch of sinners that would do anything to get what they want. The prince is one of them, he probably wanted to become the crowned one so badly that he accepted this.’

He was expecting the prince to be dead by the time that he arrived on his usual resting area or worse, caused something for the elemental creatures to despise and end his life as soon as possible. Yet he wasn’t expecting to witness such an unbelievable sight, the prince leaning on the tree as pixies surrounded him as they shines brightly. The prince seems to be amused and lets out a giggle, something soothing even for the dragon to listen at. The pixies kept on circling around him, looking at the prince with fondness in their gaze.

‘Those creatures are stingy as hell. Why are they fond of that prince? Bloody hell..’

“What are all of you doing?!” he screams, making the pixies scream and look towards his direction.

“It’s the dragon!”

“Let’s get out of here!”

“Come on!”

“Quickly!”

The moment that the pixies escaped, the prince looked at the dragon which is now in its mortal form and smiles, “Dragon? Is that you, Mr. Dragon?”

“Are you that dense? What if those pixies are after your life? How can you act so carelessly in this realm?” he hissed, glaring at him.

“They don’t want to do such a thing, they’re just playing around in front of me.” The prince’s smile got wider as his eyes turned into two crescent moons. Beautiful.

The prince looks at the one in front of him, he sounds like the dragon that he encountered a while ago yet was in the form of a mortal like him. The grey tunic and black pants looks good at him as the cloak that covers his outfit in a mixture of his scale’s colors seems to make him look majestic. The dragon’s eyes are still as blue as the sky while his raven hair covers it, only to reveal the beautiful orbs when the air blows towards their direction. He couldn’t help but stare in awe at the dragon, even his mortal form is way too beautiful to be true.

“Honestly, you’re such a fool. Trust any of the creatures here and you’ll end up dead before it gets dark.”

The prince giggled, “I see that you’re quite a worrywart, Mr. Dragon.”

“What?” The dragon raised his eyebrow and if his gaze could kill then the mortal in front of him could’ve been dead already.

“You really went back here just to check my condition? Thank you,” the prince stated.

“Don’t even think about something like that? M-Me? Caring for a mortal?!” the dragon immediately looks away as he felt the urge to crush the prince with his own hands, “Preposterous!”

“If that’s what makes you comfortable then fine,” the prince says as he shrugged, “So, what brings you here?”

“This is my resting area and I just realize that I shouldn’t leave. You’re the one that invaded my territory,” the dragon stated as he walked towards the prince.

“In your mortal form?”

“I thought that I’d like to lean on a tree for a while,” the dragon replies, sitting beside the prince as he leaned on the door, “It’s quite a sunny day. I’m not that fond of sunlight so a little shade is good.”

“Don’t you have a cave or something? A place where the sun’s light wouldn’t even touch you?” The prince looked at him and tilted his head in confusion, blinking a few times.

“I have one. But for a certain reason, I want to spend some time out of my batcave.” the dragon replies, looking at the azure sky before looking at the prince, “You talk too much, mortal.”

“Forgive me for my rudeness, Mr. Dragon! It’s just that I’ve never had a conversation as long as this for my entire life!” the prince beams, grinning at him “It feels good to talk to others. But my parents doesn’t want me to interact with anyone and all my life, I’ve been confined to my room to study or the gardens of our palace whenever I’m feeling uneasy but not without a guard or two. They don’t talk to me that much so it’s kind of boring.”

“Your life sounds like a prisoner’s rather than a royalty’s.”

“I’m fine with it. If that’s what my parents wanted me to do then I’ll do it in a heartbeat and besides, they’ve let me prove myself. For once, I’m doing something to make them appreciate me as one of their children.” The dragon immediately saw a speck of melancholy on the prince’s face yet the smile was still kept “I wanted to prove them that I can do something that they’ll be proud of. So whether I live or die is up to me and if I die, at the very least, I tried to do something.”

“Mortal, are you du—” The dragon’s words were cut off when he accidentally brushes his hand on the prince’s right one.

In all of the sudden, memories started flowing into his own mind. Memories of someone with the same soul wavelength as the prince was with him in a lot of lifetimes, he’s aware of these as the goddess have told them about reincarnations. And in a blink of an eye, he remembers everything. The broken promises, the rebellion against the villagers, the tears that they’ve shed as they tried their best to survive together.

The dragon realized something. The careless prince beside him is no other than his own soulmate, someone that is meant to be with him as they’re the ones that completes one another. And it seems that their relationship is something that will probably end up as a heart-wrenching one if he doesn’t do something to prevent it.

“Hey, mortal. You said that you’ll do your best to survive for an entire day, am I correct?” he suddenly asks.

The prince nods, “Yes, Mr. Dragon.”

“I’m kind of bored today so I’d like to have some kind of entertainment and picking a fight with the dwarves isn’t fun at all.” The dragon huffs as he smirked, “How about I’ll accompany you until the sun rises tomorrow?”

“Pardon?”

“I said that I’ll accompany you and make sure that you’ll be surviving on this place.”

The prince can’t help but gasp and let his jaw drop “Are you certain about this, Mr. Dragon?”

“Did I stutter?”

The prince couldn’t believe what he heard but all that he can do is look at him in disbelief “Mr. Dragon?”

“I said what I said. I’ll accompany you!” The dragon stated, frowning at the prince’s irritating antics.

Maybe this time, he’ll be able to save him. Maybe.

Maybe this time, he can get the happy ending that they deserve.

♪♪♪♪♪♪

Seonghwa doesn’t want to show how desperate he is on being picked by his own soulmate, he doesn’t want to admit how he wants to be with him on the time where everything could go wrong.

“Hwa.” The eldest’s eyes sparkled with hope when the brunette mentioned his name, looking at him with such a hopeful look.

“Yes, Sang?”

The brunette smiled a bit as he held Seonghwa’s hand, “I choose you.”

“Pardon?” His jaw dropped and he probably lose the composure he’s trying to maintain as he looked at the male in surprise.

“Silly. I told you that I’m choosing you to accompany me there,” Yeosang said, rubbing the back of his hand with his thin fingers, “We’re soulmates, right? Let’s try to get out of this curse once again.. but let’s do it together.”

“Not gonna lie but Yeosang picking Seonghwa-hyung is kinda good. I’m sure that Seonghwa-hyung will be able to protect Yeo,” Wooyoung said, making the eldest look at him “Hey, stupid hyung. Protect him for us, alright?”

“Wooyoung..”

“Shut it, Wooyoung. You’re probably bitter that he didn’t picked you,” San teased, nudging him with his elbow.

“You’re one to talk. Of course, I feel a bit disappointed. But it’s Seonghwa-hyung! He’s the most powerful one among the three of us so I’m relieved,” Wooyoung huffed as he gladed at the blond male beside him, “I had a feeling that if I’m the one that will be picked, I might do something stupid. So I think that it’s better for me to back-off on this one..”

“That’s alright. That means that you’re going to stay with me here, honey.” The way San’s voice drop made the raven-haired flinch and the blond smirked, “We’ll be having some alone time together.”

“S-Stop it!” the youngest among them blurted out.

San chuckled as he looked at Seonghwa, “Hey, hyung. Please take care of Yeosang for us. We’ll do our best to eliminate these pests so you better do your best and survive.”

“I..”

“What, hyung? Cat got your tongue?” San smirked as he playfully stuck his tongue out.

“He probably couldn’t believe that Yeosang picked him and his brain shuts down,” Wooyoung says, laughing a bit “Dumb hyung.”

“Stop making fun of him, you both.” Yeosang calmly stated as he looked at the eldest male, “Hello? Earth to Hwa?”

“Dumb hyung.”

“Dummy hyung.”

“Hush, you two.” Yeosang says once again as he tapped Seonghwa’s cheek lightly, making the eldest jump a bit and look at him “Welcome back to the world of the living after staring at the abyss, Hwa.”

“O-Oh.” The eldest couldn’t help but blush in embarrassment, “I’m sorry for spacing out.”

“Hwa, that's fine.”

“So, are we supposed to enter the portal by now?” Seonghwa asks, suddenly feeling a bit unconfident on his choice of words.

“Hyung, just go already. You’re too flustered by just getting picked by Yeosangie!” San chirps.

Wooyoung grins, “San’s right. Take care of yourselves in there, okay?”

“We’ll do our best, guys. Thank you,” Yeosang said as he hugged them both at the same time, “Honestly, thank you for everything. If it wasn’t for the two of you, I could’ve died a bit earlier. Thank you for being there for me.”

“Aw, sweetheart. You can thank us later after we get rid of this curse,” San purred as he kissed Yeosang’s left cheeks.

Wooyoung, feeling a bit jealous of the older male’s action, immediately planted a kiss on Yeosang’s right cheek “San’s right, Yeo. We can celebrate after this so you better survive there!”

Yeosang, being as clueless as he is, just chuckled “Alright.”

“Let’s go, Sangie.” Seonghwa says as he held Yeosang’s hand and glared at the WooSan duo, “You rascals better survive when we get back here or else-”

“Else what?”

“You’re too dumb to hurt us.”

“Seriously!” Seonghwa huffs in defeat, making the duo laugh.

“Kidding aside, Seonghwa-hyung. Take care.”

San nodded as his fox tail wagged, “Indeed. We’ll be waiting for the two of you.”

Seonghwa nods in acknowledgement as he looked at the portal before glancing at the younger male, his bi-colored orbs are shining as bright as it could and the older male couldn’t help but feel captivated by it. It’s normal for him though, they’ve been soulmates. The two of them were supposed to be connected in their lives, whether it’s romantically or platonically. It doesn’t matter to him though— all that he wants is to make sure that Yeosang will be out of this curse.

“Hwa..”

“Yeo.” Seonghwa felt that Yeosang’s grip on his hand tightened and smiles a bit, “Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

“It’s now or never.” Seonghwa stated in a firm tone, “Thank you for choosing me.”

“C’mon, Hwa. You’re my soulmate and we’re the ones that has been affected by this neverending curse so might as well try to end it this time, right?” Yeosang looked at him and gave him a warm smile that made Seonghwa feel warm as well.

“Let’s get it, Sang.”

Hand in hand, they ran towards the portal. Wooyoung and San looks at each other and grins before looking at the creatures around them, San’s katana appeared on his right hand as Wooyoung made two cutlasses from the steel. The smiles on their face faltered as they looked at their enemies with such bloodlust, they didn’t even need to talk because they’re already charging towards them. Just like what they’ve said, they’ll do their best to eliminate these pests and not let them enter the portal.

“Sang, open your eyes.” Yeosang felt a light tap on his cheeks and when he opened his eyes, the first thing that he sees is Seonghwa’s comforting gaze at him as he smiles “We’re here.”

Yeosang looks around and sees that the cavern’s walls and ground seems to be made out of flesh and when he takes a step, it lets out a squelching sound as if he’s stepping on an actual flesh which made him frown “What in the world is this place?”

“Something that’s worse than hell.” Seonghwa replied, furrowing his eyebrows.

Yeosang nodded, “Agreed.”

“There’s no entrance or exit and it seems that we won’t be able to get back to those two unless we defeat the ones that’s probably hiding on the end of this cavern.” Seonghwa explains in a calm way, looking at the pathway in front of them, “They’re probably there waiting for us but we should keep ourselves alert for some dirty tricks.”

“Okay, Hwa.” Yeosang casted a spell and a thread of blood circles around them, “I’ll do my best to keep us safe.”

“We’re in some kind of a disadvantage here, both of us are magic-users. So melee combats aren’t our thing, we have to be really alert on their tactics.”

“Sure thing. I’ll do my best to help you out, Hwa.” Yeosang said cheerily, smiling wide at him.

“You’re too giddy for a situation like this,” Seonghwa says worrily, somehow pouting at the brunette’s weird actions.

“I feel so calm.” Yeosang said as he raised their entwined hands, “Being with you, that is.”

“Oh.”

“I feel so secured whenever I’m beside you, you make me feel alive whenever our skin gets in contact.”

Seonghwa sighs, “We’re soulmates, it’s bound to happen.”

“Soulmates..” Yeosang hums as they started walking, still hand in hand “I only read about them in books that my grandparents have sent me in that institute but I didn’t believe in them that much. So actually having one is kinda surreal, I’m experiencing the real deal.”

“Sometimes, fiction is inaccurate to reality.” Seonghwa responded, nodding a bit “But there are times that it’s a bit realistic and can even inspire us to do something related to it.”

“It says that soulmates are the ones that makes someone complete and everyone has their own soulmates,” Yeosang told him enthusiastically as his eyes sparkle in delight, “They can also feel their soulmates’ emotions whenever it’s kind of intense and the fact that when they touch for the first time, they’ll feel a spark and in all of the sudden.. baam! Everything becomes brighter and you’ll feel too much happiness and contentment as you stare at each other, that’s when you’ll know that the one in front of you is your soulmate!”

“Some of it are true. Just like the touch one and also the one regarding emotions, you’ll be able to identify them by that and you’ll be able to feel a speck of their emotions when it’s an intense one.” Seonghwa replies as Yeosang listened intently, “Meeting your soulmate is like finding the last piece missing in your life, it makes you feel contented and happy.”

“It’s a great thing..” Yeosang mumbled.

“Soulmates are usually described in a romantical way but platonic soulmates exist too, Sang. Despite having a soulmate, you can still fall for other people.”

“I see.”

They kept on walking and looking around warily, still hand in hand. They kept each other comforted by their presence and keeping a conversation, both of them still couldn’t see the end of the cavern so it’s going to take them a while. Hurrying up would just take a lot of their stamina so they kept it slow and talking to each other.

“Hey, Seonghwa.” The older male glanced at the brunette, “In our lifetimes, do well fall in love every single time?”

“Not really,” Seonghwa stated, shaking his head slightly, “There’s a lot of times that our relationship kept on turning into a romantic one and there’s a few times that it’s quite harsh. The worst one is when we were born from a family that’s been rivals and we despised each other, despite me knowing that we’re soulmates, I kept on loathing you because you’re the reason why I kept on suffering. My immature self at that time is even the cause of your death but it ends up on him killing himself because the moment you lose your soulmate, your life will turn into a bland one. You’ll turn insane and wouldn’t take it.. it’s such a painful thing. To continue living your life despite not feeling alive at all.”

“It must’ve been terrible,” Yeosang mutters, looking at the ground “I just kept on dying again and again. I just kept on hurting you and your past selves.”

“It wasn’t your fault though.” Seonghwa assures, ruffling his brown locks with his free hand “We’re just the victims of this and hopefully, we’ll be able to end this sooner or later.”

“Hwa, let me ask you something.” The way the younger male’s voice dropped an octave made him look at Yeosang with worry, “What will you do if I’ll die here?”

“I really don’t know. I don’t want you to die here and I’d do anything just to save you,” Seonghwa said, his tone filled with confidence “I want you to be safe, Sang. I want you to stop suffering from this curse, I want to end our suffering. I want a happy end for both of us.”

“Happy ending, huh?” Yeosang smiled melancholically then chuckles, “Some kind of wishful thinking but I’d love to see that too.”

“It’s nice to see the two of you taking your time. That’s right! Take your time because this is going to be the last time that the two of you will be together!”

Yeosang and Seonghwa’s attention was caught by the creature approaching them, they weren’t expecting it to be the one approaching them but it seems to get impatient and decided to confront the duo instead. The goo suddenly turned into a huge snake as it hissed towards them, making Seonghwa pull Yeosang towards his back as if he’s shielding the younger male.

“Quite ironic for us to transform into a snake when we weren’t the one that tempted the Eve on taking a bite of the apple,” the creature says, laughing menacingly at them.

“The apple called ‘awareness’, you say?” Seonghwa scoffed as his grimoire appeared, floating in front of him.

“And instead of Eve urging Adam to take a bite of it, it’s the other way around.”

“Just accept that Yeosang would never agree to offer himself so you can get your wish!” Seonghwa exclaimed, immediately casting a lot of spells as a bunch of various elemental spheres appeared, “And perish.”

“As much as we want to eliminate you, Adam. You’re not our main target this time.”

“What do you even mean?” Seonghwa asks, raising an eyebrow.

“You’re way too powerful in this timeline. Way too powerful to conquer so our objective this time isn’t to eliminate you to get the Eve.”

“What the hell—” Seonghwa’s words were cut off when he heard Yeosang yelped and immediately looked at the brunette, “Yeosang!”

“Hwa!”

There’s a pair of arms holding the younger male tightly while a dagger was pointed towards the blood mage’s neck, but when Seonghwa saw the owner of the arms, he felt like everything stopped. He couldn’t even believe what is currently happening right now, the ones that’s in front of him isn’t supposed to be right here at all.

After all, they’re supposed to be dead.

“Yunho.” he mutters, looking at the taller male that is pointing the dagger on Yeosang’s neck.

“This is for Eden.” ‘Yunho’ said in a firm tone as Yeosang was struggling on his grip.

“Sang!”

“Hwa! I can’t use my powers! It’s been blocked by him!” Yeosang said as he kept on struggling, “His grip is too strong!”

“Yunho, let go of him!” Seonghwa exclaimed.

The snake laughed, “How does it feel to be seeing your friend once again? Don’t worry, he’s not the only one.”

“What do you mean?!” Yeosang exclaims as he kept on struggling, “Yunho! Let go of me, please! Yunho! Please!”

“No..”

Seonghwa and Yeosang couldn’t believe what they’re currently seeing right now, aside from their tallest friend, they saw Mingi, Jongho and Hongjoong approaching them. Seonghwa felt like he couldn’t breath with just the sight of his bestfriend and realized something, the paleness of their skin along with the black and blue veins surrounding them along with their eyes turning into pitch black ones. They aren’t their friends anymore, they’re nothing but a bunch of vessels for the souls of the villagers to get into.

“They’re still a part of this town so they are still potential vessels for our fellow villagers to get into!” the huge snake mocks as it lets out an another maniacal laughter, “How does it feel to see your comrades once again?!”

“Damn you.” Seonghwa gritted his teeth and as he was about to launch the elemental spheres towards the snake, it hissed.

“Just try and attack us. They’ll end your Eve as soon as possible!”

“Damn it..” Checkmate.

“It’s a good thing that this vessel can block the powers of the people it touches!” ‘Yunho’ says triumphantly.

“The part-fairy, male valkyrie and reaper was easy to obtain. However, your youngest comrades was the most difficult one to obtain. We had to make the reaper summon him back in this realm,” the snake says, enjoying the despaired expressions of Yeosang and Seonghwa “We’re not the only ones that you’ll be fighting against with, it’s also them.”

Seonghwa looks at Yeosang, the younger male couldn’t get out of the grip no matter how much he tries to struggle out of it. Seonghwa couldn’t detect any sign of his friend’s life forms in their vessels but their powers can still be sensed so it’ll be a tough battle. It’s also risky for Seonghwa because the only one that can kill him is also one of the sin representatives and he’s against the four of them. They might’ve lose the ability to use their power on its fullest because the original owners of the vessels have passed away, they can still use their abilities and most of them are trained to fight.

“Sang, run towards me!” Seonghwa immediately casted an air spell and the arm that was around Yeosang was cut off, making Yeosang ran towards him as if his life depended on it.

“Hwa!” Yeosang was able to use his ability once again so he immediately casted a bunch of blood turned into blades that surrounded the two of them.

“Still being as feisty as you could, huh?” the snake said, scoffing before looking at the newly turned blackened ones “Attack them until they’re no longer struggling!”

“Hwa, we should defeat them.”

“But they.. they’re our friends.” Seonghwa still couldn’t accept the fact that they’re blackened ones now, “And Joong. I can’t hurt him, Sang. I can’t hurt him...”

“Hwa, they aren’t our friends. They’re not them anymore,” Yeosang said in such a sad tone as he looked down, “They wouldn’t want this to happen too. They wouldn’t even want to hurt us and we must put it to an end, they wouldn’t be able to accept the fact that they’ve hurt us despite them being dead. They didn’t die just for us to end up like them, Hwa.”

“I-I can’t..”

“Hwa, we have to fight back or we’ll die!” Yeosang said as he released the blades towards the blackened ones just for ‘Jongho’ to send away a bunch of light energy spheres, causing them to collide and causing an explosion.

Seonghwa kept his gaze on the four blackened ones in front of him, he couldn’t help but hesitate on hurting them. He had been with these boys since he was a child, as much as he hates mortals, they’re the only exception to it. He has been attached to every single one of them that even with just a thought of hurting them makes him feel terrible, quite ironic when he had been saying that he’s ready to hurt anyone just to save Yeosang. In the end, he’s nothing but a mortal too.

“Seonghwa!” He was cut off from his thoughts when Yeosang screams, being the one to keep the barrier made from blood and also sending attacks towards the blackened ones, “If we die here then all of their sacrifices will be wasted!”

“I..”

“Think about it, Hwa! If you really care for them then we should eliminate them as soon as possible! They wouldn’t want to end up like that!” Yeosang exclaimed, yelping when one of the arrows from Yunho’s attack scratched his arm.

“Sang, I feel so lost. What am I supposed to do?”

Yeosang can’t help but feel bad at how conflicted Seonghwa looks right now “Follow what your heart wants, Hwa.”

“I know that those are not our friends anymore but just looking at them.. they’re using their bodies and it makes me think that I’m hurting them..”

“I understand. But we have to fight back, Hwa.” Yeosang replies as he smiled a bit, “Wooyoung and San trusts you. I trust you. So please, fight along with me. I wouldn’t go down without a fight.”

“Follow, huh.” Seonghwa looked at the blackened ones once again and tried to sense his friends’ presence but it couldn’t be tracked anymore, just a bunch of malevolent souls, “No matter how I kept on tracking, I can’t sense Hongjoong, Mingi, Yunho and Jongho’s presence at all.”

“What do you feel about it? That there’s people using their vessels to hurt us? That they’re taking advantage of their vessels and even using their powers?” Yeosang asks.

In all of the sudden, Yeosang’s words seems to cause a spark inside Seonghwa as the eldest one frowned “It makes me feel angry, Sang. Our friends died in this shitty curse and now, they’re using their vessels as if they didn’t die because of this.”

“Indeed. Now, what are you going to do about it? You didn’t just lose me a lot of times in this curse but also our friends, Hwa. What are you going to do?” Yeosang felt bad for doing this but he knew better and if he wouldn’t trigger Seonghwa to activate his ‘sin’, then they would clearly lose.

“I’m going to make those miserable souls pay for messing up with those vessels and I’m going to make sure that it’s going to be really painful!” Seonghwa said with venom on every single word that he spits out.

“That’s it, Hwa. Unleash your wrath against these creatures that caused your suffering for centuries,” Yeosang says, nodding in agreement “You’re the representative of the sin, Wrath. Now, unleash your powers from the restraints and let them get a taste of their own medicine.”

Yeosang witnessed how Seonghwa’s icy blue orbs are shining brighter than it is as the pure white cover of his grimoire has been tainted with blue in it, slowly erasing the white color in it. The way that Seonghwa’s frown disappeared, only to be replaced by a menacing grin and a gaze filled with bloodlust— he knew that it’ll end up a bit bloody than it usually is.

“How dare you use that vessel? I’ll make you pay for that, mongrels.” Seonghwa muttered as he lets out a laughter that even Yeosang felt some chills, “Sang, let’s kick their asses.”

“Of course, Hwa.”

The two of them ran towards the four blackened ones, immediately casting some spells as they’ve made a weapon for both of them. Yeosang having a lance made out of blood while Seonghwa held a holy sword after summoning it, they ran towards their targets. Seonghwa towards the ones that is great with offense while Yeosang is heading towards the one that is great with using magic.

Seonghwa immediately swings his sword with elegance towards ‘Hongjoong’ and all that they can hear is the enemy’s spear and his sword clashing towards each other, the blackened one seems to adapt the strength of his bestfriend and just the thought of it enrages him. He immediately kicked the smaller one as ‘Jongho’ approaches him and he has to cast a bunch of energy sphere to make him dodge and backs out for a few steps, he knew how great his reflexes is. And it didn’t took him that long to get near Seonghwa and punched him, causing the older male to step backwards and winced in pain.

The two blackened ones are approaching him slowly as he spits out blood and glared at them, “Motherfuckers. You’re going to pay for that.”

Meanwhile, Yeosang is having a hard time with the neverending arrows from ‘Yunho’ trying to pierce through his body while ‘Mingi’ swings the scythe effortlessly as if he was trained for combat. The blackened ones are taking advantage of their magic too and this is causing Yeosang to get anxious as he kept on dodging and at the same time, sending out the bloody blades towards them and piercing into their bodies. It only caused them to hiss in pain and kept on attacking him, making him groan in annoyance.

“Hwa! We must do something to make them stop!” Yeosang cried out.

Seonghwa snapped his fingers, “I’m on it, Sang.”

Seonghwa started to cast an another spell, causing icicles to appear above and casted a barrier for him and Yeosang as the sharp icicles fell, hitting the giant snake along with the blackened ones before they’re even able to defend themselves. He might not be as skilled as the others physically yet he excelled in magic, he’s confident about that.

“Damn you, Adam!” the giant snake hissed as a lot of icicles pierced through its body.

“That’s not the only thing that would be happening,” Seonghwa stated as he snapped once again and the icicles that is stucked on their bodies starting to explode, causing chunks of rotten flesh to splatter around the area.

“Hwa, they’re still moving!” Yeosang said as he looked at the blackened ones that was limping as they slowly recovers from the injuries that they’ve gotten despite losing a limb or two.

“We just have to keep on attacking them until they wouldn’t be able to!” Seonghwa ordered as he casted an another spell, boulders coated with blue flames appeared above them once again.

“Alright!” Yeosang casted a spell too, the bloody blades turning into different kinds of swords and both of their spells fell towards their enemies, hearing them letting out pained screams.

‘Jongho’ casted an another set of energy sphere as ‘Yunho’ raised his bow and multiple arrows appeared from above them, ‘Mingi’ caused a portal in which hands seems to grab into both of their feet, making them unable to move as Seonghwa glared at the four of them. The attacks were launched towards them and both of them barely even had the time to make a barrier that’s strong enough to protect both of them, Seonghwa did his best to mutter a chant to disperse the portal from the Underworld and dragged Yeosang away from the attacks, barely even dodging most of them as they got pierced and scratched my Yunho's arrow and being thrown a few feet apart when one of Jongho’s energy spheres landed in front of them and exploded.

“Hwa! Are you okay?!” Yeosang frantically exclaimed as he held the older male’s shoulder, “The arrows pierced you in your back and shoulder.”

“Take them out. I’ll be able to heal myself, Sang. Just take them out immediately,” Seonghwa said and the younger male did what he was told to, making Seonghwa let out a pained cry as he bit his lips to prevent more noises on coming out.

“This is for our village!” ‘Hongjoong’ said, charging himself towards them both while gripping on the spear.

“Get away!” Yeosang screams as huge spikes appeared from the ground made out of blood went surging towards his direction, making the blackened one stop and evade the attack.

“Shit. They’re such a bunch of troublesome idiots,” Seonghwa mutters as he gets up on his feet, mumbling an another chant as his wounds heal slowly “Sang, we need to make a plan in order to get rid of them both.”

“I’m on all ears, Hwa.”

“Immobilize Yunho, his attacks are the lethal ones and once his arrows pierced through us, it’ll block our powers. Mingi is making us immobilized with his spells and prevent yourself on getting in contact with his scythe because the moment we get stabbed or even just scratched by it, we’ll die.” Seonghwa explains as he looked at the two tallest males in front of them, “You have to immobilize Yunho first but make sure to prevent Mingi’s attacks, protect yourself as much as you can. I’m going to deal with Jongho and Hongjoong.”

“Are you sure about that?” Yeosang asks worrily, gently cupping his face as he looked at the scratches in it.

“I can fight a bit. Don’t worry about me that much, Sangie. Protect yourself at all cost,” Seonghwa mutters before planting a kiss in Yeosang’s forehead, “I’ll do everything  to keep you safe.”

“Alright then.”

Yeosang looked at the older male as it ran towards ‘Jongho’ and ‘Hongjoong’, clutching the sword with both of his hands as the grimoire floats beside him and flames forming into a shape of birds appeared behind the wizard as it goes towards the two blackened ones. Despite the injuries that he got, he still kept on fighting and it blazes a fire inside Yeosang. He should do his best too in this fight, he looked at the two blackened ones assigned to him as his bloodied spear turned into a whip before biting his left index finger, making it bleed as the blood fell towards the ground.

“If Seonghwa is doing his best then I should be doing my best too..”

He lurges forward, heading straight into ‘Yunho’ as he saw ‘Mingi’ going towards his direction and the end of the whip hits the taller male, the impact throwing him towards the wall as it lets out a squelching sound. Spikes appeared in it, impaling towards the taller male’s thighs and arms as it caused him to get stucked in the wall. He looks at ‘Yunho’ that is about to cast an another set of arrows when he casted a barrier for himself, not letting any of it pierce towards his body once again. ‘Yunho’ seems to need a cooldown in order to cast an another spell and Yeosang took it as an advantage, immediately stabbing his own arm as the blood from it splattered towards ‘Yunho’s’, turning into chains that ties itself to the ground. ‘Yunho’ fell with a hiss, struglling towards the restraints with all his might.

“Hwa!” The brunette exclaimed, rushing towards the older male to assist him.

“Summon some of those bloody chains to restraint them! Hurry!” the older male orders as he kicked ‘Jongho’ and his sword clashed with the spear that ‘Hongjoong’ is holding.

“Okay!” Yeosang’s sight is getting blurry because of the blood that he lost during the battle along as his entire body seems to be screaming in pain whenever he moves a muscle but he mustn’t let it get in the way, they need to survive.

Yeosang’s chains immobilized ‘Hongjoong’ and ‘Jongho’ as Seonghwa grins, “Good work!”

“It’s not enough! I wouldn’t be able to immobilize them for a longer period of time, they have to be exterminated!” Yeosang looked at the blood around the blackened ones, slowly getting thinner and in a few seconds, they will be able to break free of it. He immediately looked at Seonghwa with a worried gaze, “Seonghwa, you are the only one that could end those four! You have to kill them!”

Seonghwa grins as if he wasn’t an emotional mess a while ago, now holding his grimoire as it flipped a page and an another spell was casted, “With pleasure.”

Seonghwa is getting exhausted and he’s aware of it but this isn't the time to get tired. Adragon made out of blue flames appeared behind him, letting out a roar as Seonghwa pointed towards the blackened ones’ direction while Yeosang tied the blackened ones to the ground. The dragon didn’t even need to be told as it lets out the flames that hit the blackened ones, hearing the agonizing screams and pleas from them as they experience their death by being engulfed by the blazing flames. Seonghwa made sure that nothing would be left on their remains but a speck of ashes on the floor, panting as summoning nonstop took a toll on his stamina.

“T-They’re gone.” Yeosang mutters.

Seonghwa nods as he looked back and saw the giant snake behind them flinching “Indeed. But we have to get rid of an another one here.”

Yeosang took a deep breath, “You’ve crossed the line.”

“Eve, just offer yourself to us and everything will end!”

“I refuse,” Yeosang deadpanned.

“Why do you kept on going against it?! This is your fate, Eve!”

“Because it isn’t my fate at all, dingus!” Yeosang blurted out, clenching his fist.

“You’re defying your own fate! You kept on escaping your duties and this is the consequence of your cowardice.”

“That's preposterous! This is not my fate and as long as I kept on reincarnating, I’ll do my best to get myself out of this mess!” Yeosang exclaimed, glaring at the giant snake “You’ve ruined my life with your silly sacrifices and I’ll do everything to get me and Hwa out of this!”

“Eve, what you’re doing is committing a sin!”

“You’re the sinners on this one!” Yeosang pointed towards them, gritting his teeth in annoyance “I’m so done with all of your bullshit!”

“Eve, we’re going to ask you for the last time.” The giant snake looked at Yeosang “Offer your soul for Monsieur. Offer your soul to our God so we can finally attain the Eden that we had been aiming for.”

“You didn’t even need to ask me because the answer will always be ‘no’,” Yeosang stated as he looked at Seonghwa, “Go fuck yourselves.”

“We’ve been patient, Eve  If that is what you’ve decided then we have no choice but to get rid of you,” the snake said as it lurges itself towards the brunette, “Die!”

“Do you even think that I’ll let you?!” Seonghwa immediately casted a spell as a trail of fire covered them as a border, making the snake flinch with the sight of the thing that they’re afraid of.

“Damn you, Adam!”

“I won’t let you hurt Yeosang. I’ll never let you hurt him,” Seonghwa muttered as he casted an another bunch of rocks shaped into spears as it was coated with the blazing blue flame.

“I’ll help you out, Hwa!” Yeosang suggested but the older male just shook his head.

Seonghwa glanced at the younger male’s state, seeing how he was bloodied and the scarf in his neck was tainted with the crimson red blood “You’re not in the right state to fight him, Sang. I’ll heal you a bit.”

“Are you sure about that? You’ve been injured too and you look like you’re about to pass out, Hwa.”

“I won’t be lying about my condition. This realm prevents me on using one-hundred percent of my power and I’m getting a bit exhausted by using them again and again,” Seonghwa responded, biting his lip as he prevents himself on making a pained noise when he felt like he was getting drained from the inside.

“If that’s the case then I’ll help you out! You’ve been too injured by the blackened ones!” Yeosang exclaimed as he looked at the giant snake.

Yeosang also casted an another spell, causing a long thread of blood to surround the snake, squishing it to the point that the creature suddenly lets out a mixture of black and blue blood oozing out of the cuts from the thread. It was slowly being sliced by the thread due to Yeosang’s power weakening and its hard skin and flesh while Seonghwa kept on throwing offensive spells towards the creature in front of them. It kept on screaming in pain, struggling out of the thread just to make it slice him deeper.

Both of the male are getting exhausted, they’ve been using too much stamina and Yeosang felt like he’ll pass out sooner. But he kept his eyes open, he was so close on getting rid of the person that have caused his misery for a lot of lifetimes. He have caused Seonghwa and him to cry such sad tears, meeting each other yet losing one another in every single lifetime. The brunette can sense how desperate Seonghwa is, he’s also as desperate as him. He wanted to be with this person until they’ll be able to weep tears filled with happiness after everything that they’ve been through. They deserve to be happy.

“Hwa, I’m going to attack it.” The whip turned into a spear once again in Yeosang’s hand as he looked at the older male, “I am about to pass out and it’s immobilized. I need to get rid of it, Hwa.”

“That’s risky, Sang!” Seonghwa exclaims, shaking his head.

Yeosang smiled melancholically at the older male, “It’s now or never, Hwa. I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

“Sang!”

Seonghwa was about to chase the younger male but everything happened in a flash and at the moment that Yeosang took a leap towards the blue flame, he heard someone running towards Yeosang’s direction and Seonghwa saw wings. Pure white wings that flapped and everything was too fast, Yeosang lets out a pained scream as the sword pierced towards his stomach. Seonghwa tried to move but saw that he was stucked in the same place, chains binding his ankles to the ground.

“Sangie! No—” He felt a sharp pain on his back when something pierced in it, he looked behind him and widened his eyes in fear as he realized that it was someone that he knew.

The winged person landed on the ground, dropping Yeosang in it as it coughed out blood. Seonghwa felt his legs weakened and fell towards it also, still keeping his eye contact with Yeosang. The brunette was writhing in pain as it tried to crawl towards Seonghwa, muttering his name again and again.

“Hah! Fools! If you think that you can defeat me that easily then you’re dead wrong!” the snake boasted as the blue flames and blood disappeared, making it able to regenerate its body.

“H-How?” Seonghwa mutters, looking at the two figure in front of them.

“You should’ve used your head more, Adam! Where did you even think your friends died? They’re from the outside of this realm and those two are guarding it, right?” the snake mocks, “Of course, they have to face these two and fortunately, they were defeated. Since they’re born in this town, they’re also potential vessels for our clan!”

“Damn it!” Seonghwa cried out, feeling a bit drowsy as his body seems to scream because of the pain yet he still tried to crawl towards Yeosang, just to whimper when the chains are preventing him on getting ang further “Sang!”

“H-Hwa, it hurts..”

“I’m so sorry, Sang! I could’ve saved you! I’m really sorry!” Seonghwa can feel the tears streaming on his face as he tried to reach out Yeosang’s hand.

“I-It’s my fault. I was too impatient, Hwa. Don’t be sorry,” Yeosang said in between of coughs and gasps.

“Hang in there, Sang! I’ll save you!”

“I lose a lot of blood, Hwa..” Yeosang muttered as his eyes were about to close, “Sleepy.”

“Please don’t, Sang! Open your eyes!”

“Hwa.. sorry..”

“No! Don’t!” Seonghwa tried to struggle with all his might and even tried to use one of his spells yet ‘Wooyoung’ blocked the magical powers around the cavern..

With one last ‘sorry’, the brunette closed his eyes as he lets out his final breath. Seonghwa felt like something shattered inside him, shattered into bits without having a chance to patch it up. Losing a soulmate is such a painful experience, he had remembered it from his past lives. Yet here he was again, losing his soulmate to the hands of these bastards.

“Eve is gone, Adam! It’s over! This lifetime’s over!” The snake lets out a diabolic laugh, echoing throughout the cavern “How does it feel, Adam? It hurts, right?”

“Sang..” Seonghwa felt like every single strength in his body left him as he kept on staring at Yeosang’s unmoving body.

“It’s over, Adam! You lose!”

“Shut up.” Seonghwa muttered, looking at the ground. He lose again. It’s all because of the creature in front of him, they’ve let him experience such a painful life. Turning his friends into one of them and killing his soulmate.

“What is it, Adam? Stop muttering and speak louder!” The snake taunted, still laughing at Seonghwa’s state.

“Shut up.” Seonghwa gritted his teeth, raising his head to glare at the creature in front of him. It’s the reason of your suffering, you have to avenge yourself and everyone. Listen to his laugh, it’s annoying.

“Look at that! Your gaze is filled with hatred! How pathetic! I thought that you’re supposed to save your Eve but look what happened! He’s dead!” The snake was heading towards him, “Your Eve is dead!”

“Shut up!” Seonghwa raised his head as the chains from his feet disappeared, the schlera of his eyes turning into pitch black as his grimoire appeared once again yet the blue cover is slowly getting tainted by the same color of his schlera. That’s it. Unleash the wrath and let them have a taste of it.

“The alchemist child blocked your powers already! How?!”

“That’s it. All of you are going to die. Everyone is going to die!” Seonghwa exclaims as a summoning circle appeared on the ground, “You’ll pay for this! I’ll make sure that you won’t be able to interfere in his life anymore! I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you.”

“Stop him!” The snake ordered the two newly turned blackened ones using Wooyoung and San’s body as they lurges themselves towards the enraged male.

“I’ll kill you!” Blue flames appeared as it burns the two blackened ones into crisps as soon as it gets in contact with the flame.

“Adam, you pest!”

“He wasn’t even able to say ‘goodbye’ to me. I’ll make sure that you won’t be able to interfere with his next life,” Seonghwa stated in a tone filled with hatred.

“Curse you, Adam!”

“You’ve already cursed me!”

“So you’re sacrificing your soul just to get rid of us? How martyr of you, Adam!”

“If it’s for my soulmate then I’d be willing to do anything even if it means that I have to become a monster just to defeat one.” Seonghwa can feel himself losing his grip on his sanity, “Burn with the flames of your demise and suffer from the same thing as before. But this time, you’ll be in Hell. All of you will keep on burning every single day to remind you how painful it is. Perish, you monster.”

The summoning circle brightened as the blue flames started to consume the creature, letting out an agonizing cry as it kept on struggling. Seonghwa just stared at the creature, witnessing its final moments before it disperse into the realm as it was sent to Hell. Seonghwa knew that doing this would cause nothing but trouble but he was too numb to even care on what might happen to him. He was the cursed one.

He was the one that’s been cursed but all of the people that he loves kept on getting hurt or losing their lives. He didn’t just lose his soulmate but also the only ones that he cherished while staying in the mortal realm, they’re the only ones that kept his feet on the ground. In this timeline, he lost everything.

As the entire dimension was slowly dispersing because of the monster’s disappearance, he felt his body falling to ground as the darkness embraced him once again. He silently prays that he wouldn’t open his eyes again so he can be with them in the aftermath. He wanted to see them once again.

•♪•♪•♪•♪•♪•♪•

Such a wishful thinking. The moment that Seonghwa opened his eyes, he was inside an another dimension. He tried moving his hands and feet yet everything felt different. He was restrained by something that isn’t chains or ropes, it was a restraint for people like him. Rule breakers, they said.

“Seonghwa, you’re awake.”

Seonghwa looked at the man that called him, suddenly appearing in front of him “Father.”

“You know the reason why you’re here, young man.” The wizard king said in a cold tone, “I know that you’re up to something.”

“I did it for Yeosang.”

“But still, the cursed child died. Not just him but every single sin representative aside from you,” the wizard king replied.

“I failed to save him again.”

“Oh. You won’t be able to save him anymore, son.” Seonghwa widened his eyes in surprise and fear from what he just heard, “Because even if the cursed one reincarnates, you’ll still be alive in this form. This is your punishment for forbidding the rule, Seonghwa.”

“No..”

“Instead of dying and living again and again with your soulmate, you’ll be alive.. not getting the permission to die as your soulmate kept on living and dying. Not even getting the permission to meet him. You’re nothing but an immortal that is imprisoned now, Seonghwa.” the wizard king stated, somehow averting his gaze on his son, “You know that it must be done. I’m quite sure that I didn’t lack on anything when it comes to lecturing you, my child. You’ve did this to yourself and this is the consequence of your actions.”

Seonghwa couldn’t help but nod, the wizard king just kept on looking away as he turned his back. He knew that his father didn’t want this to happen but it must be done, he couldn’t think of anything that could prevent his soulmate’s demise in the future. He let his wrath take advantage of the situation but the thing is, he couldn’t even feel bad about it.

Ever since he lost Yeosang, he couldn’t feel anything at all. As if he became numb to everything, he felt like someone took the half of his heart and  crushed it in their own hands. The thought of not seeing his soulmate ever again terrifies him, it’s a neverending craving that he would be suffering from. If without him, Seonghwa wouldn’t be able to ‘live’.

But it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t matter anymore. Because if it’s for Yeosang, everything is worth it. He just hopes that on his soulmate’s next life, there could be people that will help him out. He wishes that Wooyoung and San along with his friends could be born as friends once again and this time, help him out of that curse. Seonghwa wished because it is all that he can do right now, pile up a bunch of wishes.

Because he wouldn’t be able to do anything now. He can only wish for their happiness even though he isn’t involved in their lives anymore. After all, the one that’s been cursed is him. He was the one that is supposed to have an unhappy ending, not Yeosang.