Previously…

Stepping into another world for the sake of saving Chaewon brings Minjoo to uncover a shocking truth. She finds out the intended use of Dark Magic, unlike what she knows all along. Together with Sarang; her ancestor, Minjoo manage to find a solution to save Chaewon in the form of a magic stone. Will Chaewon survive or Minjoo is too late to save the older Kim?

***

“Madam Eve! I made it!” Minjoo beamed with happiness as soon as she stepped out from the portal that Sarang makes for her return. The creases at the end of her almond-like eyes dripping with tears of happiness as the thoughts of her being useful to Chaewon filled her mind.

“Took you long enough, Minjoo. Please hand it over to me. Pronto!” different from her thoughts that everything will be fine, Minjoo is greeted with frantic voice of haggard looking Madam Eve. As for Chaewon, the girl is growing paler with each passing seconds with beads of sweats are rolling from the edge of her forehead.

Alarmed by the unexpected situation, Minjoo double her pace and handed over the pair of magical stone she obtained from Sarang to Madam Eve who looks like about to collapse. Gulping down a bottle of potion, Minjoo took a deep breath before stepping beside Madam Eve to ease the woman’s burden.

After all, Chaewon is all Minjoo’s got.

Family? They are not in the right state of mind at the moment.

Siblings? She had none.

Chaewon? Well, there’s only one Chaewon in this world. Her Chaewon.

She will do her absolute best in aiding the girl who hides uncountable scars just to meet Minjoo again. Their meeting is too short to her liking. Minjoo want to make sure that Chaewon will be able to held her head high without any shame left within that girl. To do so, she need to ensure that Chaewon survive this rampaging magicules that about to explode the girl’s body.

“Minjoo, please cast a barrier for us both while I’m chanting my spell. We need to make haste,” Madam Eve heave her haggard breath while glancing in Minjoo’s direction.

“How long do we have?”

“Five minutes’ top. Make sure to exert your utmost force, girl.”

Holding her right hand up, Minjoo started casting a multiple layer of barriers as soon as thick, billowy smokes shoots out from Chaewon’s body. She swears that she can hear eerie screams coming from the smokes as soon as Madam Eve about to place the ruby magical stone unto Chaewon.

“Minjoo, watch out!”

At the frantic voice of Madam Eve, Minjoo can feel her body being forcefully blasted to the wall of the room they currently occupying. Blood retched from the side of as Minjoo tried picking up herself. “What the hell,” curses escaped from Minjoo as she witnesses Chaewon who is now floating with dark particles surrounding the girl, slowly forming layers of magicules.

“This cannot happen,” Minjoo flipped her head sideways as Madam Eve voice of frustration echoes through the room. “What cannot happen? You said that she will be alright if I go and bring back the stones!” Minjoo roared as she worriedly glancing towards Chaewon who is currently being slowly engulfed by the dark particles.

“She had been associate with the Dark Magic for so long that they begin to resonance with each other! This is worse than I expect, Minjoo. How can this girl walk around at all while withstanding all those pains?” Madam Eve snapped back as the elder whisked her left hand towards the dark particles. Sparks flying through the room and Minjoo is flabbergasted upon seeing Madam Eve’s left hand turning black at terrifying rate, as if it is rotting.

“We now don’t have much choice, either we defeat the source of Dark Magic in this era or kill this girl to ease her pain,” Madam Eve glanced towards Chaewon who seems peaceful despite the fact that the Dark Magic is eating away her life force. She then continued, “The stone is now useless at this point; at least for Chaewon. She had been assimilated with the Dark Magic for too long, her body cannot withstand with the ever-growing Dark Magic anymore.”

Minjoo heaved an exasperated sigh as it is clear that she will choose to eliminate the source of Dark Magic in a blink if she knows where to find it. However, given the circumstances and current situation, she deemed that time is not on her side. Chaewon might leave her for real this time and cross that river, drifting straight to the afterlife.

She bit her lips while racking her brain to come out with a solution, a sure way for Chaewon to defeat the odds and survive. Closing her eyes while taking a fresh intake of air, Madam Eve’s statement from earlier rings inside Minjoo’s head, “Her body cannot withstand with the ever-growing Dark Magic anymore.”

“That’s it!” Minjoo blurted as she turned her body towards Madam Eve and continued, “I will become the vessel of Dark Magic too. This way, the burden on Chaewon’s body will lessen and she will survive, right?”

“Are you out of your mind? Dark Magic isn’t for everyone! You can die!” Madam Eve barked back at the determined Minjoo who wears a serious face.

“I can do it, no, I will absolutely do it! This is the only way to save Chaewon!” Minjoo hissed at the older woman while knitting her eyebrows.

“You really are- Hah, alright. That way, maybe we can use this stone to prolong her life while constraining those Dark Magic from rampaging every again,” Madam Eve giving in as she finds that it is useless to argue with stubborn Minjoo.

The princess smirked as she readied herself, following Madam Eve’s words to a T. She mustn’t lose even one second as Chaewon is tilting between life and death at the moment. “This will hurt a lot, do you best to bear with it or else I’ll lose both of you in one go!” Madam Eve weaved her blackened left hand that was restored to its pristine state again.

“Are you ready, Minjoo?”

“I am!”

As soon as words escaping from her lips, Minjoo observes movement of those dark particles changed its direction, dispersing from Chaewon and rushing towards her, like a pack of hyenas coming after fresh meat. She gulped hard with eyes wide open.

As soon as a dark particle makes contact with her, Minjoo had to swallow her screams of anguish. Before she can calm her mind, the dark particles started swarming her in a rush, registering a whole new sensation of pain into her body. She can feel her veins are popping, every inch of her body being twisted into multi-directions. Her skins feel like something is ripping through from inside, clawing, begging to be free from the containment of her body.

“It’s all your fault, Minjoo.” Voice of a familiar person added spices to her intense struggles with the dark particles.

“If only I didn’t know you, my life would be better.” Not only that, Minjoo is flabbergasted upon seeing Chaewon with full black iris staring at her with condescending look (while it is scary, Minjoo thought it is hot for a split second).

“Why don’t you begone from my gaze? Your existence alone is a bane for me,”  Chaewon hissed at Minjoo, making the princess shut her eyes in attempt to chase away this mean Chaewon from her view.

“You say you love me, right Minjoo?” The voice’s tone turned softer, almost sounds like a pleading now. Minjoo bit her inner cheek, refuse to fall under tricks playing with her sanity. Receiving no response from her, Chaewon with black iris added, “Or those words are another empty promises, lies that you spout for years?”

Minjoo lifted her head, her heart waver upon listening to the accusation questioning her utmost heartfelt towards Chaewon. The moment she about to reply, a stern voice grumbled from her side, “Go back inside me, you filthy thing. Don’t you ever try to touch my Minjoo!”

That grumpy voice commanded like she’s the one in charge and surprisingly, those dark particles almost immediately backing away from Minjoo and started swirling back towards Chaewon. The girl with emerald eyes looks menacing with her shiny glares feat with clenching teeth (Minjoo thought Chaewon seems hot like that though). The dark particules concentrated inside the ruby jewel planted in the middle of Chaewon’s chest, right below the collarbone. Minjoo realized that Chaewon’s hair yx black as soon as every particle disappeared from the room without any traces, as if they aren’t there in the first place.

Minjoo spread her arms in attempt to catch staggering Chaewon who rise from the bed with beads of sweats rolling from her forehead. Their first contact sends chills down to Minjoo spine as she fails to detect any warmth from Chaewon. The older Kim feels like coming out from a frozen lake in winter, not even a speck of heat left inside Chaewon’s body. Pulling the weak shorter girl into her embrace, Minjoo snuggles the slow growling baby cheetah to share her warm with. “Shh, don’t make any noise now. You barely survived after all,” Minjoo whispered as she tried calms her racing heartbeat. She thought that she will never get to see Chaewon ever again, let alone to share a simple hug like in this moment.

“… reckless. You can die if I didn’t contain those pesky things,” Minjoo picks up a few words amidst of Chaewon’s rambling inside her arms. She chuckles while planting a small kiss onto Chaewon’s crown, saying that she’s fine. “You’ll do the same if I’m the one in trouble too, right? Bet you’ll even do worse things than me if we consider your temper into the equation,” Minjoo sighed as she tightened her embrace. She wraps her fingers beneath Chaewon’s hair as she cups the small, slim face and brings her eyes to meet with Chaewon.

“You need to value your life too, Minjoo. Don’t do things like this ever again,”

“Even if your life on the line like just now?”

“Things like that would never kill me, I’ll wake up again like there’s nothing happened if you let me rest well enough,”

“Where do you buy those confidence? That stubbornness really resembles someone I know,”

“I learn from the best, Minjoo. By the way…”

A small cough exuberates through the room, snapping both of the girls away from their own little banter. Madam Eve shakes her head as she speaks her mind, “As much as I didn’t want to break you two lovebirds from