“You can’t do it,” he said.
“I don’t intend to,” I said uneasily, his stern expression making me feel unbalanced—he was normally so bright and relaxed. “But I need to figure out what to do instead. Ideally something that won’t result in me being wiped off the timeline.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Yejun said, the sharp edge in his words catching me off guard.
“I mean, it might,” I said. “I don’t see a lot of options from here.”
Yejun shook his head, jaw clenched, tendons taut in his neck. Abruptly, he stood up, grabbed his coat from the back of the chair, and headed for the door. “Come on,” he said.
“Where are you going?” I said, untangling my bag from the chair legs before hurrying after him.
“I need a scrying pool,” Yejun said over his shoulder. “I’ll figure it out, Mina, I just need a little more time. Don’t worry.”
“Don’t worry?” I said. “I feel like this is the exact right time to be worried!”
“I’ll figure it out,” Yejun said again. “I’ll fix it.”
“What, by yourself?” I said. “Slow down!”
But Yejun only took off faster and ducked into an alleyway, then squatted in front of a puddle and rolled up his sleeves.
“Don’t scry in mysterious liquids you found on the ground!” I said. “Let’s just go back. We can deal with this in the present, with a liquid that won’t give you cholera.”
“Mina,there’s no time!” Yejun said, clenching his fists. “If Hong Gildong…” He shook his head, looking away as his shoulders drooped in defeat.
I knelt on the other side of the puddle. “Yejun?” I said, reaching for his face.
He caught my hand and held it close to his heart. “No one is going to hurt you,” he whispered. His words felt warm, the undercurrent of fire beneath them, a latent tone that some dragon descendants could tap into.
“That’s sweet,” I said. “But I fear that you might lose to an ancient dragon like Hong Gildong in a cage fight.”
I’d meant it as a joke, but Yejun looked up sharply, his eyes flaring gold. In a flash, Yejun had trapped me against the wall, his hands on either side of my head. This close, I could feel the heat radiating off him. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from his golden irises, his pupils narrowed to thin black stripes, the sign of a dragon provoked. I had never had that kind of anger directed at me before, and I couldn’t help the way my knees shook, the brick wall digging into my spine.
“Are you sure about that?” he said, the words low and dark, the vibration rattling through my bones. My heartbeat raced in my ears, and I knew what I was supposed to say next, what I could have said to stop this right here and now. I could have shoved him away and he would have yielded… but I didn’t want to.
Instead, I turned my head slightly to the side, baring my throat.
“Prove it,” I whispered.
Because I knew, even with the tiny amount of dragon blood in my veins, that dragons didn’t back down from challenges.
Yejun blinked quickly, like he couldn’t believe my words. Then his eyes flared brighter and he raised a hand to the side of my face, holdingmy cheek. I could feel the threat of his claws against my cheek, but he held me with exquisite care, not drawing even a single drop of blood.
For the briefest moment, like a comet flashing past overhead, I imagined a life with Yejun.
Days spent holding his hand, feeling our magic braided together, its warmth always with me. Nights spent on quiet journeys around Seoul, even something as simple as going to a sushi restaurant an adventure in and of itself because being with Yejun was exhilarating. For all I knew, it could be true—it was forbidden to look at your own file, so I had no idea what the future held for me.
“Mina,” he whispered, and somehow I felt like he had said my name in every language all at once, like he had spoken to the whole of me, not the fragmented parts I offered to everyone else I met. His warm breath whispered across my face, one claw tracing a delicate line across my lip.
Then suddenly, Yejun drew back. He peered over my shoulder with a frown. I followed his gaze, and there we were—me and Jihoon—walking down the street.
Jihoon had his hand on my back, guiding me through the crowd. The other Mina looked at Jihoon and smiled before we disappeared around a corner.
I stayed perfectly still, wishing Yejun would say something, give me some clue as to what he was thinking.I have nothing to be sorry for, I told myself, even though it felt like a lie.
“The assassination,” Yejun said at last, his voice low. “You said it was your final exam?”
I finally dared to turn around. Was Yejun actually going to pretend he hadn’t just seen me and Jihoon on a date? Did he not care, or did he just understand that it was part of my job? He was still staring out the mouth of the alley, like he didn’t see me at all.
