Chapter Text
“Ah… My cherished benefactor.”
“Wicked bloom that doth nobly enthrall…”
“Thou art the fairest one of all.”
“Magic mirror , on the wall.”
“Who is the foremost in all the world…?”
“Thou who art guided by the Dark Mirror…”
“…Follow the wish of thine heart, and take the hand thou seest reflected in the looking glass.”
“As flame reduces even the stars to ash.”
“As ice seals away even time itself.”
“As great trees swallow even the sky.”
“Fear not the power of darkness.”
“Now, demonstrate your power.”
***
Late afternoon sunlight seeped through the windowpanes, casting a pale golden glow across Classroom 12-C. The mid-semester exams had just wrapped up, but the room was far from relieved. The lingering pressure of graduation and university entrance exams had quietly taken the place of test papers, weighing heavily on everyone's shoulders.
Irony at its finest, on a day when all anyone wanted was to grab their bags and head home to sleep until they forgot the meaning of life, the six of them were stuck on duty. They had no choice but to stay behind to sweep, erase the boards, straighten the desks, and prepare for the upcoming graduation ceremony.
Lee Soha leaned her broom against the floor, throwing her head back with a dramatic groan. Her sigh was deep enough to blow away the layer of dust at her feet.
“God... It feels like just yesterday we were complaining about monthly tests, and now graduation is right around the corner. Right after that, it's straight into college entrance exams. Just thinking about it makes my future look as dark as my search history when my parents grab my phone.”
Seo Dain, who was bent over sweeping dust into a dustpan, snorted at that and looked up.
“Girl, don't just randomly bring up horror stories like college exams out of nowhere. Some of us are trying to keep our sanity here.”
Park Euna, who had been dusting the windowsill, let out a laugh.
“Honestly, I get it. But I’m not sure I even know what I want to do after graduation yet.”
“You?” Kim Taeon glanced over, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you were going to become some famous beauty influencer.”
“Excuse me? Some famous beauty influencer?” Euna immediately turned around.
“My bad. A very famous beauty influencer.”
“That’s better.”
Taeon grinned, apparently satisfied with himself, and went back to stacking the chairs. Even while talking nonsense, he somehow managed to make everything look effortless. With his annoyingly handsome face and bright, easygoing personality, it was hard to stay annoyed at him for long.
Jung Siheon, meanwhile, was sitting backward on a chair, resting his arms across the backrest as though he had completely forgotten that he was supposed to be helping.
“You guys are overthinking it. Just pick a major that won't make you hate waking up every morning. That's my whole philosophy.”
That somehow turned the conversation toward the future they had all been trying not to think about. University choices, careers, dreams. The things that had always felt distant suddenly seemed a lot more real with graduation just around the corner.
Euna talked about pursuing beauty and fashion. Taeon, on the other hand, still had absolutely no idea what he wanted to do, although he insisted that “deciding later” was a perfectly valid life plan.
“Honestly, I’m just gonna see where life takes me.” Siheon shrugged, then turned toward the front of the room, looking over at Yoon Harin, who was quietly wiping down the chalkboard.
“What about you, Harin? Got any big plans lined up yet?”
Harin paused her eraser mid-stroke, turning around to face them. A soft, faint smile touched her lips.
“I’ll decide when the time comes. I still have plenty of time, so no rush.”
“Wait, seriously?” Siheon blinked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.
“Relax,” Taeon chimed in, tossing an arm over Siheon’s shoulder with a grin. “It’s Harin we’re talking about! Even if she doesn’t have a grand master plan right now, she’ll be totally fine. Her family’s doing well enough that she actually has the luxury to take her time and figure it out!”
Euna laughed, shaking her head. “Must be nice to have options! Meanwhile, the rest of us are out here stressing about cut-off scores.”
While the rest of the group carried on ribbing each other, a soft buzz echoed from Harin’s pocket. She pulled out her phone and found a text from her dad.
“Dinner’s ready. Coming home soon?”
Seeing that her share of the chores was already done, Harin quickly packed her things.
“Alright, my dad’s texting me to head home for dinner,” she said, waving to the group. “I’m heading out first.”
Dain glanced toward the window, where dark clouds were still heavy with rain. “Hey, it’s still coming down pretty hard out there! Sure you don’t wanna wait until it clears up a bit?”
“I brought an umbrella, so I’m all good,” Harin replied with a light smile, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “See you guys tomorrow.”
“Bye!”
She gave them a small wave and headed out, expecting nothing more than the usual walk home.
But the moment she passed through the school gates, something felt… off. A few steps down the street, Harin slowed to a stop.
The street outside the school was usually packed during dismissal, a chaotic swirl of students, waiting parents, and bumper-to-bumper traffic, rain or shine. But today, it was eerily quiet. The usual symphony of revving engines, blaring car horns, and overlapping chatter had completely vanished.
All that remained was the rustle of leaves brushed by falling raindrops, echoing unnaturally clear through the stillness.
“Strange...” Harin murmured under her breath, though she didn't dwell on it.
She casually strolled along the sidewalk, pulling her phone from her uniform pocket. The screen lit up, displaying a mountain of browser tabs she had opened the night before: university admission guidelines, major requirements, career pathways…
Lost in her own foolish train of thought, Harin suddenly froze. An ice-cold chill shot straight down her spine.
Instinctively, she snapped her head up.
An eerie gust of wind ripped through the dead silence. From the far end of the street, a heavy, frantic clatter of hooves echoed against the pavement, each strike pounding like a physical hit against her chest. Right behind it came the shrill, bone-chilling screech of grinding wheels.
Before Harin could even process what was happening, an ornate, jet-black carriage came barreling toward her at breakneck speed.
In the middle of a modern street…
Surrounded by towering high-rises…
Its presence was so absurd, so utterly impossible, that her mind went blank for a fraction of a second.
“What–”
CRASH!
Before the word could fully leave her lips, a violent force slammed into her. Harin’s body was hurled into the air like a ragdoll. Her umbrella blew away in the gust, and the phone slipped from her fingers, spinning through the air before clattering hard onto the asphalt.
Every sound around her suddenly warped and distorted.
Her vision was swallowed inch by inch by a creeping darkness.
And with it, her consciousness slowly dissolved into nothingness…
Until all that remained before her eyes was an endless, hollow void.