He was less than half a meter from her, chest rising and falling violently, drenched in sweat like he'd just been hauled out of the water.
The back of his shirt was soaked through, clinging tight to his body. His hair was a mess, stuck to his forehead. He looked so exhausted and disheveled it was almost painful to look at.
"Y-you…"
Kiana parted her lips, her voice hoarse.
Instinctively, she drew her neck in and shifted into a defensive posture.
He'll scold me, won't he?
Of course he will.
I broke my promise. I almost made him lose face in front of Kevin and Mei. And I tried to run away again… like a coward…
Guilt crashed down on her chest like a boulder.
She stared at Su Yu's bloodshot eyes.
She could imagine it—how he must have fought upstream through that packed crowd like a madman, just to find her… a nuisance who should've vanished long ago.
"I'm sor—"
Before the apology could leave her mouth, Su Yu's movement cut her off.
He didn't roar.
He didn't interrogate her.
He didn't even so much as mention "running away," or ask "why."
He simply let out a long breath, then—looking like all his strength had been drained—dropped onto the concrete beside her with a heavy thump.
"Haaah…! I'm… I'm dead… dead tired!"
He wiped sweat off his face with the back of his hand, not caring at all that the dust on the ground would ruin his pants.
"This stupid stadium—huff—who designs a place like this? Not even a… not even a direct elevator to the rooftop…"
He shifted until he could lean against the outer shell of the exhaust unit.
Then he raised a finger, pointing toward the blindingly bright stage below, and turned his head slightly. In his eyes was that post-disaster mix of relief and teasing.
"Hey, Kiana."
His voice still carried the rough panting of intense exertion, but his tone was so casual—like they'd just come up here to catch some breeze.
"Yeah, watching Miss Eden's concert from up here means no ticket—VIP among VIP treatment and all… but you didn't have to climb up here just to save a little money and drink cold wind, did you?"
Below them, Eden stood on a rising platform, slowly ascending. Her golden gown glittered beneath the spotlights, like a goddess descending among mortals.
From this angle, the entire dome looked like a treasure bowl filled with starlight.
And they—were like spectators seated on the clouds, privately owning this impossible view.
Kiana froze.
She looked at Su Yu's side profile—the faint smile there—and her tears only fell harder.
No blame.
No disappointment.
Not even a heavy, suffocating "Are you okay?"
He just… complained about the stairs being too high, then sat down next to her like always—keeping the stupid girl company, watching a scenery that was never meant for her.
Su Yu pulled out his phone and typed quickly.
The pale light from the screen lit up his sweat-soaked jaw. When the "sent" chime sounded, he tucked the phone away and exhaled long and deep.
"Okay. Done."
"Kevin said they'll grab something to drink and wait for us downstairs."
"And you—seriously, you can run. My step counter's definitely #1 today."
The wind poured in from above, snapping their clothes in sharp flutters.
Eden's singing drifted up like background audio from another world—distant and blurred.
Su Yu turned his head, looking at the small figure still curled into herself beside him.
She looked so fragile, like glass that would shatter if you touched it.
Say something.
This atmosphere's too heavy. It doesn't suit her.
"Hey, listen…"
Su Yu deliberately used an exaggerated, slightly teasing tone—the one he always used when he wanted to cover awkwardness.
"I mean, sure, Mei and Kevin are a perfect match—total old-married-couple vibes, there's no way to squeeze into that… but running off because of that? Miss Kiana's possessiveness is a little intense, don't you think?"
He tried to use the same clumsy joke as always—hoping she'd bristle and snap back, "Who's jealous, idiot?!"
Even if she yelled at him, it would be fine.
But the rebuttal he expected never came.
There was only the howl of wind.
Kiana still hugged her knees, head buried.
After a long time, her shoulders started trembling again—
not from anger,
not from embarrassment—
but from the edge of collapse.
"…Why…"
The rasping voice came from her arms, cracked with sobs.
"Why… did you come looking for me?"
Slowly, she lifted her head.
Her face was streaked with tears. The light in her eyes was gone—only a dead, ash-gray emptiness remained.
The poisonous whispers of the Herrscher of the Void still echoed inside her skull.
Each word reminded her—
She was a disaster.
An anomaly.
A source of misfortune that would only ruin others.
"I'm a monster…"
Her hand shook as she raised it, staring at her pale palm as if it were smeared with blood she could never wash off.
"I'm a liar."
"I promised you I wouldn't run anymore, but I can't… I can't control it."
"As long as I'm alive, it'll follow me. It could destroy everything at any moment."
She looked at Su Yu, tears falling in big, heavy drops.
"I'm not worth this, Su Yu. I'm not worth it…"
"You should've let me disappear. That would've been the happy ending…"
The smile on Su Yu's face slowly faded.
He stared into her hopeless eyes—and something inside him clenched hard, like it had been violently yanked.
That girl who wandered alone in Sky City.
That girl who kept fighting even in ruins.
That girl who, even when she was already covered in scars, still tried with everything she had to suppress the Herrscher's will—just to protect others.
And she was saying…
she wasn't worth it?
Not worth it?
What kind of joke was that?!
"Because I haven't cleared the game yet."
Su Yu spoke. His voice wasn't loud—yet in the wind, every word landed clean and sharp.
Kiana blinked, staring at him through tears, as if she couldn't understand the meaning of that sudden, contextless sentence.
Su Yu reached out and—without giving her any room to refuse—grabbed her trembling wrist.
His palm was burning hot. That heat traveled through her skin, searing into the cold place in her chest.
"Our game's barely even started—we only just made the folder. Three-Year Sakura just blew up, the script isn't even finished, and the heroine wants to quit halfway through?"
He tightened his grip just a little, pulling her closer, forcing her to meet his eyes.
"Monster. Liar. Whatever."
"I don't care about any of that. I don't care about some tragic-drama setting."
"What I care about is—who was it in the private room who pushed the popcorn over to me and said it was sweet?"
"When you saw Mei's happiness, who was it that still smiled—softly—even though it hurt?"
"Kiana."
His tone turned unmistakably serious—rarely so, almost frightening in its steadiness.
"You're not a monster."
"You're the dumbest, biggest-eating, and most worth saving idiot in the world."
"And as for why I came to find you…"
He paused, eyes fixed on hers—those eyes that reflected his silhouette back at him.
"Because you're my heroine."
"And without the heroine…"
"My story can't go on."
....
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