The rain had stopped.
Suho stood outside Hanwol High, drenched more in sweat than water. The storm had passed while he was unconscious. No more lightning in the sky—only a heavy, suffocating stillness.
It felt wrong.Like the calm before something worse.
His uniform clung to his skin. His legs trembled. Every step felt foreign, like he was walking in someone else's body. His left arm still throbbed faintly where the red symbols had burned into his skin. He rolled down his sleeve. He didn't know why—but something told him not to let anyone see.
The librarian hadn't said much after that final warning.Just one line.
"Go home before the night sees you."
Then he vanished back into the library'sshadows.
Suho didn't know what disturbed him more—the book… or the librarian's eyes when he said:
"Never remain human for long."
What the hell did that mean?
He had barely stepped past the school gates when the whispers returned.Soft.Faint.But they were there.
Not in Korean. Not in any language he knew. They slithered like smoke across his thoughts, too ancient and vast to belong to any living thing. And yet, they didn't scare him.
They felt… familiar.
You are chosen.You are bound.Let the world break—and you shall rise.
He gritted his teeth and shook his head. But it didn't help.
The whispering followed him all the way home.
Suho lived in a crumbling apartment at the edge of the city's lower district. The elevator was broken—again—so he climbed the stairs to the fifth floor. Alone.
His mother wasn't home. She was almost never home anymore.
Two jobs. Night shifts. And when she was around, her words were thin. Her eyes avoided his.
Suho dropped his soaked bag to the floor. Peeled off his jacket. Stared at the cracked mirror in the hallway.
Same dull eyes.Same frail shoulders.Same nobody.
But something had changed.
He didn't know how to explain it. But the air felt heavier around him. The shadows stretched when he walked by. And the whispers? They never left.
He blinked—and for a second, his reflection didn't move.
Suho stumbled back, heart pounding.
But when he looked again, it was normal.
He splashed cold water on his face in the bathroom. Tried to breathe.
"I'm going crazy," he whispered.
No, the whispers answered. You are awakening.
That night, Suho dreamed.
A void of stars and screaming wind. Black skies above, stretching into infinity. Red constellations pulsed like veins across the cosmos.
And in the distance—A massive gate, chained in silver fire. Etched in runes that bled light.
Something stirred behind it.
Watching him.
Testing him.
You are not ready, the voice boomed. But you will be.
He woke with a jolt.
Heart hammering. Arm glowing.
The marks on his skin pulsed red and faded slowly. The whispers buzzed beneath reality, just loud enough to remind him: This is real.
Then—someone banged on the door.
"Suho!"
That voice.
Jaeho.
"What is he doing here?" Suho muttered.
"Get out here, freak!" Jaeho shouted. "You think you can just ignore me now?"
Suho didn't move.
"Come out, or I'll burn this place down."
That did it.
Suho opened the door slowly.
Jaeho stood there with three other students—Rank Ds and Es. Laughing. Hungry for blood.
"You've been acting weird," Jaeho sneered. "Creeping around. Skipping class. What, you got a new hiding spot to cry in?"
More laughter.
Suho said nothing.
"Still nothing to say?" Jaeho raised a hand. Fire danced on his palm. "Let's see if you burn like the rest of us."
He thrust his hand forward—
And froze.
Mid-motion.
His face twisted in confusion. Mouth open. The flame vanished.
Behind him, the others stepped back. "What—what's going on?"
"My body—it won't—!"
Suho blinked.
Had he done that?
His lips moved before he could stop them.
"Kneel."
It wasn't loud.
But it echoed.
Through the hallway. Through the walls. Through the air.
Jaeho's grin shattered. His knees buckled—slamming to the floor with a crack that silenced the hallway.
Gasps. Screams.
Even the teachers stopped.
Mr. Go stood in the classroom doorway, eyes wide, chalk still in his hand.
No one understood what they were seeing.
Jaeho clutched his throat, shaking.
Not from pain—but from something worse.
Suho stepped forward. Calm. Cold.
"I asked for nothing. I begged for nothing. I endured everything," he said.
Jaeho whimpered.
"But now… now you will remember me."
The whispers rose.
Not just in Suho's mind.
Everyone felt them.
Ancient. Crawling. Like something brushing beneath their skin.
Jaeho screamed.
Not from flame. Not from fists.
From visions.
Only he could see them.
Gods drowning in blood. Thrones burning. Shadows devouring stars.
Then—silence.
Jaeho collapsed. Breathing, but barely.
Suho turned away.
The hallway parted for him. Like water around a stone.
No one spoke.
Not a single soul moved.
Because now…
Ahn Suho wasn't invisible.
He was feared.
The whispers purred in his thoughts:
One down. The world left to go.