Another Heart
“Uh… fuck, you bastard…!”
Lee Harin collapsed on the floor, clutching her chest as she writhed.
Something alien had invaded her body, spreading like fire along her nerves.
“Ugh… ugh…!”
“Huhuhu. How lovely, Destroy. You suit this side of you perfectly.”
Nightmare savored the malice and concentrated mana wafting around Harin, her words flowing on.
“Honestly, who cares about some peaceful daily life? I want to smash everything to pieces. You’ve been holding back for Siwoo’s sake, haven’t you?”
“No, no, I…!”
Harin’s denial died on her tongue.
A horrifying desire flickered in her mind, raising its head and whispering filthy temptations into her ear.
It was so damn suffocating.
If only her heart could shatter everything, not just the Demon King’s Army.
She kept repeating inside her head that it had nothing to do with the brainwashing, but the desire she had just allowed to rise refused to fade easily.
Especially the two magical girls who kept pestering her whenever she was near Siwoo—those two were the most irritating.
Anger, jealousy, everything fed the destructive instinct in her head until it swelled larger and larger.
“Am I right, Destroy?”
Harin couldn’t answer Nightmare’s amused question.
Because of the jealousy and ugly desires steadily rising inside her heart.
She had no words left.
“Just do it. You can, can’t you?”
Do it? What the hell was he saying?
What exactly was he trying to make her do?
Harin lifted her head, her eyes trembling.
“Kidnap Siwoo and lock him away so no one can ever take him from you. Turn him into your own.”
“…!”
“Your desire is screaming for exactly that, isn’t it?”
Harin’s violet eyes twitched.
The sweetness of Nightmare’s words made a faint, involuntary smile creep onto her lips.
She knew it was wrong, yet she couldn’t stop herself.
Then.
“…Hah!?”
A flame of dread raced up her spine. Harin shuddered violently and looked up at Nightmare with tear-filled eyes.
“Y-You… what are you doing…!”
“Oh my, you broke free faster than I expected. How unfortunate. If you’d just let the nightmares seep in and woken up again to those primal instincts, it would have been perfect.”
“That’s not my instinct…!”
It’s nothing but the filthy Demon King Army instinct you forced onto me!
Harin tried to say that, but before she could, Nightmare spoke first.
As if she had no intention of listening to Harin’s lie.
“Hmm. Shall we make a little bet, Destroy?”
“What kind of…”
“Exactly like what you did to Siwoo—give you one week. Of course, you can’t contact him or reveal your condition. Not even a single time.”
“Siwoo… is going to be…!”
Fresh rage and hatred filled Harin’s violet eyes.
“You goddamn bastard…!”
She wrapped mana around her right hand and swung at Nightmare.
But.
“Thud!”
“Kh…!”
The pain as if Nightmare had grabbed her heart made the mana she had gathered scatter into the air and spill onto the floor.
A thin groan slipped from between her tightly clenched teeth.
“If you can endure those filthy desires right in front of you for one whole week, I’ll acknowledge that friendship.”
“You’re lying, you damn…!”
“Oh? Not confident? Can’t you even endure those low-class desires in front of Siwoo?”
Harin couldn’t bring herself to admit it.
It wasn’t that Nightmare’s words were true or false.
Some sinister premonition kept brushing against her spine.
Nightmare couldn’t possibly have spoken with pure intention, yet there was nothing she could do.
The Essence of Nightmare had already been planted inside her; resisting would only mean Nightmare would eliminate her first and head toward Siwoo.
It was only natural since she had already finished her work on him.
The best choice she could make for Siwoo here was…
“…a substitute.”
The only one.
“Remove the influence you left on Siwoo.”
“…Oh my.”
“Right now.”
Harin’s eyes flashed with resolve.
Nightmare stared at her for a moment, then nodded with a faint smile.
“Understood. If that’s what you want.”
“Snap!”
“That’s it. The nightmares hidden inside Siwoo’s body are all gone.”
“…Yeah. That’s enough.”
*Swish.*
A black void-like shadow formed beneath Harin’s feet.
“Then… then Siwoo will… go into that panic like last time…”
“Mm?”
She gradually hid her body inside the shadow, loosening the thread of consciousness.
Her vision blurred, a buzzing sound filled her ears, and her mind floated away.
Then the shadow vanished.
“…Strange.”
Nightmare murmured to herself.
“I never planted any other nightmares.”
*****
Late at night.
Harin jumped down from the shadows she had created and landed on the bed with a thud.
How the hell was she supposed to treat that twisted ankle? Call an ambulance? What was Harin even doing at this late hour that she had to call the neighborhood chief for help?
*Bang!*
Something crashed against the front door, and the entire house shuddered.
“W-What…!?”
Harin lifted one leg and hopped on the other to the door.
*Crash!*
She burst out and scanned the living room.
There lay Harin, limbs sprawled across the floor.
“Ha… Harin?”
“Hah… ha…”
Harin let out a soft groan, her face twisted in pain, muscles twitching.
Approaching carefully, a strange prickling sensation like needles jabbed at her skin.
“Ha… Harin…!”
Her condition was clearly not normal.
There was no choice. She had to call the neighborhood chief at this hour to ask for help.
“Wait, I’ll call the chief right now…!”
As she shouted, she turned toward the table where the phone was resting to grab it.
*Whoosh!*
“Eek…!?”
Suddenly a swarm of tentacles shot at her from behind with a whooshing wind and grabbed her limbs, yanking her forward.
*Thud!*
She hit the floor hard and bit back the pain in her back while turning her head to look around.
A moment later she could see a massive pair of eyes filling her entire field of vision.
“…”
“Harin…?”
Something burned inside the violet eyes as they stared at her.
As if they had just found something extremely important.
*Swish.*
Slowly Harin’s two hands came forward and gripped her collar.
“Stop… Harin…”
“…What?”
“Stop… you said…!”
The violet eyes shrank like pinpricks, sending a chilling aura through Harin’s body.
Her calves suddenly ached, every muscle in her body trembled, and an uncontrollable fear poured out of her.
“A-Ah… I-I got it… uh…”
“…”
Harin finally seemed satisfied, loosening the tentacles that had wrapped around her limbs by a tiny amount.
“W-What the hell happened? Are you okay? Huh?”
“…I’m fine.”
Harin answered in a pained, crawling voice as if reluctantly agreeing.
“R-Really fine? Huh?”
“…I’m saying I’m fine. Stop worrying about me and take care of your own body.”
*Swish.*
Harin turned to look at her twisted ankle, her face twisted in irritation.
“Nightmare did that to you, didn’t she? That goddamn bastard.”
Harin nodded silently.
“Hah… Stay home for now. Don’t go out. I mean, if you had gone out and gotten into this mess again…!”
With every word Harin forced out, her voice grew louder and the emotion in her became more agitated.
“…Hah.”
Suddenly she frowned and pressed a hand to her forehead as if she had a headache.
“A-Are you okay?”
“Hah… yeah. I’m just… a little tired from fighting. Nothing’s really hurt.”
Harin turned her gaze to Harin’s body.
No visible wounds could be seen.
Her whole body was covered in dust, but it was far better than if it had been soaked in blood.
As she thought about that, her eyes darted around, checking for any hidden injuries.
“…What are you staring at so hard?”
“Ah.”
*Swish.*
Harin covered her own body with both arms.
“…Pervert?”
“No, it’s not like that…”
“Then you had that kind of taste?”
“…”
Seeing her joking around like this made Harin realize she hadn’t been injured badly.
“…Hah. Anyway, I’m glad you’re not hurt, Harin.”
“…Yeah.”
Harin mumbled quietly, stood up, and collapsed onto the sofa.
“…Deformation.”
A flash of purple light appeared, and the original Harin materialized on the sofa.
Her bleached blonde hair and red eyes looked especially tired tonight.
“…Your leg needs to be treated at the hospital tomorrow.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Asking the neighborhood chief to fix it felt too small of a request.
It wasn’t a serious injury, and a normal hospital would be fine.
She didn’t want to worry the chief or Mina either.
As she thought that, she started looking around for a splint when Harin spoke.
“…With me.”
Harin’s voice came from beside her.
“…Huh?”
---
Chapter transition complete. The shadows have dissolved. No more hidden nightmares.