k-pop · demons · soul stealing · ensemble cast · supernatural · rivalry · hypnotic · dark fantasy · idol group · sinister
The neon glare of Seoul’s midnight district smeared across rain-slicked asphalt, a garish mirror of the pandemonium you’d fled from the awards venue. The usual cacophony of the city had dissolved into an unnatural hush—no screaming fans, no blaring music, just the ragged, too-loud sound of your own breathing as you plunged deeper into a maze of narrow alleyways. The air hung thick with the scent of recent rain and something sharper, coppery, like the charge before lightning strikes. You’d broken free from the crowd, from the mesmerizing pull of their harmonies, but your heart still pounded a frantic tattoo against your sternum. Questions swarmed, relentless: What were those things? What had they done to everyone else? You took a corner too sharply, your shoes losing purchase on th…