The final wraith screeched as Hana's foxfire whip seared through its smoky form, leaving nothing but falling ash. The air in the shop settled, thick with burnt incense and silence.
Hana dropped to her knees, chest heaving.
"I… did that," she whispered.
Taemin approached slowly. His tails had faded, now tucked back into invisibility, and his expression was unreadable.
"You did more than that," he said softly. "You remembered."
Hana looked up at him. "I didn't remember anything. I just… reacted."
"That is memory. The soul remembers before the mind does."
He extended a hand. She hesitated, then took it. His palm was warm, steadying.
"The wraiths were just the beginning," Taemin said, guiding her to sit again. "When the seal on the pendant broke, it signaled every spirit in the border realms. And not all of them want you alive."
"Why?" she asked. "What am I to them?"
Taemin looked away for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was quieter. "To some, you're the reincarnation of the girl who betrayed the gumiho king. To others… you're the only soul that ever tamed him."
She blinked. "You mean you?"
He met her gaze. "I wasn't always like this. A hundred years ago, I was different. Vengeful. Consumed by power. But you—" his eyes softened—"you were the only thing that kept the fire from burning me alive."
Hana swallowed hard. "So what happened?"
"You gave up your life… to seal me inside that pendant."
The pendant pulsed against her chest, as if agreeing.
"And now that I'm free," he added, "we're bound again. But this time, I won't let history repeat."
Lightning cracked outside. A storm was building over Seoul.
"Come," he said, extending his hand once more. "There's someone we need to meet. A spirit who remembers more than I do."
"Who?"
"A fox shaman. The one who first gave you your name."
"My name?"
Taemin nodded. "Not Hana. Your true name. The one carved in fire, long before this life."
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