Chapter -5

The Girl the Shadows Obey

Rain fell hard the next morning.

Students rushed beneath umbrellas, slipping through puddles like ants scattering from a storm.

But Lia?

She walked slowly. Unbothered.

Her umbrella was black. Her steps, careful. Her silence—heavier than the rain itself.

Inside the psychology building, Kael stood near the lecture hall doors.

He didn’t notice the cold water soaking his coat.

His eyes were on her.

She passed without looking at him.

But he still felt it.

That electric stillness she carried. The way the world bent around her like it knew her name… even when no one else did.

Inside the lecture hall, the professor introduced a guest speaker.

A man with silver cufflinks, a crooked smile, and eyes that flicked to Lia too quickly.

> “Mr. Seo Ji-Hwan. He’s sponsoring the university’s new research fund.”

Lia blinked once.

But didn’t react.

Ji-Hwan’s gaze lingered on her longer than it should have.

Kael saw it.

So did Yoon Haneul.

But only one of them understood the danger.

After class, Ji-Hwan crossed paths with Lia outside the library.

> “You’re quieter than I expected,” he said casually.

> “You don’t know me,” she replied.

> “Not yet.”

He stepped closer, lowering his voice.

> “But I like women who pretend to be prey.”

She didn’t move back.

She didn’t even blink.

> “And I like men who don’t come back after the first warning.”

He chuckled.

> “You don’t scare me.”

> “You should ask the last man who said that. If you can find him.”

Her voice was calm. Sweet.

But Ji-Hwan’s smile faded, just a little.

Kael was waiting for her behind the student café.

His fists were clenched.

> “What did he say to you?”

> “Nothing worth remembering.”

> “He looked at you like he’s seen you before.”

Lia looked up at Kael for the first time that day.

> “What are you afraid of?” she asked softly.

> “That he knows something I don’t.”

> “Then dig faster.”

That evening, Lia entered a hidden bookstore at the edge of the city.

A place with no signboard. No lights. Just whispers and locked drawers.

She didn’t knock.

The woman behind the desk looked up, startled.

> “It’s been years.”

> “I need surveillance on Ji-Hwan. Discreet. And quick.”

> “You’re not supposed to act.”

> “I’m not. I’m warning.”

She dropped a black coin on the desk.

The woman went pale.

> “ Understood.”

Elsewhere, Yoon Haneul sat in his dorm, watching the same three seconds of Lia’s stairwell fight on loop.

She didn’t just defend herself.

She disarmed a grown man without blinking.

> “What the hell are you?” he whispered to himself.

Later that night, Kael stood on a rooftop again—watching her window.

She was there.

Always there.

Tea in hand. Curtains barely drawn.

He didn’t understand it.

He was powerful. Feared. Cold.

And yet she… felt older than him. Stronger. Like he was standing on ground that had already been claimed.

Inside, Lia opened a drawer.

This time, there was no photo. No threat.

Just a silver bracelet. Elegant. Simple.

From him.

A past life she wasn’t supposed to remember.

A promise he never knew he made.

She stared at it.

Then slipped it silently onto her wrist.

> “Come closer, Kael,” she whispered to the night.

“But only if you're ready to burn.”

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