Chapter 3: The Devil at the Window

Jungkook didn’t open the flower shop the next day.

He couldn’t.

His body moved like a machine—shower, coffee, sweeping the floor—but his mind was somewhere else. Caught between dreams that felt too vivid and memories that didn’t belong to him.

The black rose outside his window was in full bloom now. Its petals shimmered faintly, almost like they were alive, drinking in moonlight and fear. No insect dared touch it. No wind dared move it.

And Jungkook couldn’t look away.

He found himself watching it for minutes—sometimes hours—waiting for something. A sign. A whisper. A memory. He didn’t know. But he waited.

Then, as the sun began to fall, there was a soft knock on his window.

Jungkook turned, breath caught.

V stood on the other side.

He wasn’t smiling this time.

Jungkook hesitated, then slid the window open just a little.

“You’re not allowed in unless I invite you, right?” he asked, his voice low.

V’s crimson eyes glittered. “A tradition, not a rule. But I’ll respect it. For now.”

They stared at each other in silence.

“You said we were lovers,” Jungkook said. “In another life.”

“Yes.”

“And that I sealed you away. Why?”

V’s expression didn’t change, but something shifted in his posture. “You knew I’d become dangerous,” he said slowly. “They said I would destroy everything. That I already had. You didn’t believe it at first. But when the fire started spreading… when kingdoms fell… you chose to save them instead of me.”

Jungkook’s hands clenched. “I still don’t remember.”

“You will.”

“You said I betrayed you. But if I sealed you away to stop you, maybe I didn’t betray you. Maybe I did the right thing.”

V looked at him for a long moment. “Maybe,” he whispered. “But it still broke me.”

The air was quiet between them.

Finally, Jungkook asked, “What are you going to do now?”

V’s gaze softened. “Stay near. Remind you. Protect you.”

“Protect me from what?”

“The others,” V said. “The ones who know the seal is broken. The ones who feared what I was… and fear what we could be.”

Jungkook’s skin prickled. “There are more like you?”

“There were,” V replied. “But not like me. Not bonded to you.”

He leaned closer to the window, his voice barely a breath. “You’re not just a florist, Jungkook. Not just a soul who stumbled across a cursed seed. You were once the only human powerful enough to bind a devil prince. And now… you're waking up.”

Jungkook shook his head. “No. I’m just—”

“You’re not,” V interrupted gently. “And your soul knows it.”

His fingers brushed the windowpane, and Jungkook swore he felt the heat through the glass.

“Let me in,” V whispered.

Jungkook’s heart pounded. “Why?”

“So I can help you remember. Because the memories aren’t just dreams. They’re warnings. Pieces of a truth you buried. And soon… they’ll start burning their way back.”

Jungkook didn’t move.

V’s gaze didn’t waver.

“Let me in,” he said again, softer this time. “Just for tonight.”

Jungkook stared at him—this beautiful, terrifying man with eyes like fire and a voice that made his soul ache.

Then he opened the window.

V stepped inside, his presence shifting the air instantly. It was like the room recognized him. Like the walls themselves sighed at his return.

Jungkook stepped back as V looked around.

“You kept it,” V murmured, nodding toward an old, faded tapestry hung on the wall. It had always been there, passed down from his grandmother. Jungkook had never really noticed it before.

A flower blooming from fire.

“I didn’t know,” Jungkook said quietly.

“You wouldn’t,” V replied. “Your grandmother protected you. Hid the truth. But the seal was weakening for years. She couldn’t hold it forever.”

Jungkook sat down, dizzy. “So what now?”

“Now,” V said, approaching slowly, “we begin again.”

He knelt in front of Jungkook, their faces inches apart.

“I won’t hurt you,” he said. “Even if you never remember. But if you let me stay… I’ll show you who you are. Who we were.”

Jungkook’s voice trembled. “Why does it feel like I already know you?”

“Because your soul never forgot,” V whispered.

Then, softly, he touched Jungkook’s temple—and the visions rushed in.

Flashes of firelight. A kiss in the middle of a battlefield. The sound of laughter echoing in stone halls. A promise whispered in the dark. Blood. Betrayal. Tears. Love.

Jungkook gasped, tears slipping down his cheeks.

V caught them with his thumb. “It’s starting,” he said. “You’re remembering me.”

Jungkook looked into those crimson eyes.

And for the first time, he didn’t feel afraid.

He felt haunted.

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