MY TRUE DEMON: BECOMING A DEMON BRIDE

CHAPTER 4: CONTRACT ERROR

“The night a demon tried to claim my soul… and ended up losing his instead.”

A blinding golden explosion tears through the shrine like reality itself is being ripped apart.

The marriage circle shatters instantly.

Ancient symbols across the floor crack, break, and fade like burning ink dissolving into air. The shrine does not just shake, it screams.

The spirits of Si-Hwan’s wives erupt into chaos, their forms twisting in the collapsing ritual space. Some cry out in shock, others vanish mid-scream as the power feeding them breaks apart.

Then everything goes still. Silence falls over the mountain. Heavy, unnatural, like the world is holding its breath.

I slowly open my eyes. I am still standing alive and unhurt.

My body feels normal, like nothing happened at all… even though I remember everything shaking apart just seconds ago.

A few steps away, Si-Hwan lies on the ground. He is not moving, not unconscious… just staring upward at the broken sky of the shrine, like his mind cannot accept what just happened.

For the first time since I met him, He looks uncertain.

…

The shrine is destroyed.

Stone pillars have collapsed. The glowing circle is gone. The portraits on the walls are cracked, some burned away entirely.

I walk slowly toward him. My voice is careful.

“Did it work?”

Normally, after a ritual like this, something should happen. A connection. A shift. Something I can feel.

But there is nothing, only emptiness. Si-Hwan tries to stand. The moment he moves, He suddenly stops.

His body freezes mid-motion like something invisible has grabbed him.

His expression changes instantly.

“…What is this?”

His voice is lower now. Controlled. But there is something underneath it I have never seen before, unease.

I look down. That is when I see it. A glowing red chain. It stretches between his shadow and mine, not physical, also not visible at first glance.

But real enough that I can feel it pulling slightly when I move.

“…What is that?” I whisper.

Si-Hwan doesn’t answer immediately. He stares at it like he is calculating something impossible.

Then his face darkens. For the first time, The Bride Collector looks worried.

“…This shouldn’t be possible.”

The air shifts. His voice lowers.

“The contract…reversed.”

I blinked, surprised as well actually.

“…Reversed?”

He slowly stands again, more carefully this time.

“…Instead of me binding your soul…”

His eyes meet mine. “…my soul is now bound to yours.”

That word does not make sense in my world. But the chain reacts when I move my hand slightly, so it is real.

…

On the drive back to Seoul, the car is silent, too silent. The kind of silence that feels like it is waiting for something to break.

Si-Hwan sits beside me, staring out the window like he is trying to solve a problem that does not have a solution. He is with the wheels.

I keep glancing at him. There were too many questions in my head to ask him. None of them answered.

Finally

I speak.

“Stop ignoring me, demon.”

The moment the words leave my mouth, something changes.

A pulse runs through the air through the chain. Si-Hwan’s entire body freezes instantly. His head turns toward me against his will, slowly, like something is forcing him.

Our eyes mmeet Mine was confused, his shocked.

“…What was that?” I whisper.

He doesn’t respond at first. Then his expression shifts, realization, slow, and dreadful.

“…It’s not just a reversal just as I thought,” he mutters.

His voice tightens.

“The contract made you the authority.”

I blink.

“What?”

He tries to look away embarrassed and shy, but his head snaps back toward me again, against his control.

His jaw tightens.

“…I cannot ignore direct commands.”

I stare at him.

“…Wait.”

He suddenly pause as well, unable to ignore me. Then it clicks.

My voice lowers.

“…So you have to listen to me?”

Si-Hwan tries to hold back, but the chains compelled him to give me a response.

“…Yes.”

The word sounds like it physically pains him to say. I lean back slowly.

Then it hits me. I laughed, at first just a breath, then fully. I laugh for the first time in what feels like forever, real laughter, not broken, and not forced.

Si-Hwan looks completely miserable beside me.

“…This is a disaster,” he mutters.

…

Elsewhere in the city, things are not as controlled. Min-Jae sits in a glass office surrounded by tense executives. Documents are being placed in front of him repeatedly, contracts, reports, and loss statements.

Everything is falling apart in small, quiet ways.

An investor speaks carefully.

“There is growing backlash from the wedding scandal.”

Another continues.

“Several partners are reconsidering their deals.”

Min-Jae’s expression tightens.

“…Over that?”

No one answers directly, because the answer is yes.

At home later, Ha-Rin watches him pacing.

“You’re still thinking about Seo-Yeon,” she says casually.

“I’m not,” he replies immediately, but his feet can seem to stop parting the ground, too fast, his reply also too defensive.

He grabs his coat.

“I’m going out.”

And leaves.

Ha-Rin watches him go. Her smile fades slightly, just slightly.

…

Later that night, Ha-Rin scrolls through social media. She expects to see Seo-Yeon broken, humiliated, destroyed but to her disappointment, there is nothing, no posts, no updates, no trace, just silence.

That silence unsettles her more than any angry message would.

“…Where did she go?” she murmurs unsettled.

…

That night, Si-Hwan enters his spiritual realm. A vast crimson palace stretches endlessly. Hundreds of ghostly women appear immediately, his wives.

They are not silent this time. They are laughing. Some are holding their sides. Some are pointing at him.

“You became a servant!”

“The Bride Collector is under contract!”

“Someone finally caught him!”

The laughter spreads through the hall.

Si-Hwan stands at the center, expression dark.

“Enough,” he says coldly. It barely works.

Until, A woman steps forward, whom they know as Wife Number One. She seems older than the others, stronger presence. Her smile fades as she studies him.

“…This is serious,” she says.

The laughter slowly dies among them. She continues. “The pendant did not reject the ritual.”

She looks upward slightly.

“It protected her.”

Si-Hwan’s expression tightens.

“…That’s not all,” he says quietly. “The contract recognizes her as the master.”

Silence falls instantly. Even the playful wives stop moving. For the first time, no one is laughing.

…

The next morning, I sit in my apartment again. The pendant around my neck feels warm, too warm. I held it in my hand.

“…What are you?” I whispered to myself.

The moment I touch it, golden light instantly flickers from it.

A vision appears: a woman in shaman robes. She looks at me directly. And she looks… familiar. Not like a stranger, much like an older version of me.

My breath catches.

“…Who are you?”

Before she can answer, the vision disappears.

…

Far away on the streets, Si-Hwan felt it as well and suddenly stops. His body tenses.

“…That energy…”

His eyes narrowed as he sight my apartment from far away.

“No human should have that.”

…

Night falls again.

I walk through an underground parking garage alone. The air feels wrong immediately. It was cold, heavy, and alive.

Lights flicker above me.

Then suddenly, darkness spreads across the garage, blocking my path. A man steps out from the shadows, not human. Iknow instantly because he gives the same vibes as Si-Hwan.

His name is Baek-Gyu. He smiles trying to coerce me to release my pendant.

“The pendant… belongs to demons.”

I step back.

“…Stay away from me.”

He laughs softly.

“Too late.”

Suddenly, the air around him begins to bends. Pressure builds. And I realize, this is different from Jin-Woo. This one is stronger, much stronger.

Before he moves, a crash of energy erupts behind him. Si-Hwan appears instantly to protect me like a guardian angel.

…

The battle begins immediately. Concrete cracks under their pressure. Cars were lifted slightly from the ground. Dark energy clashes violently. Baek-Gyu grins even while being pushed back.

“You’re different tonight,” he says. “Protective?”

Si-Hwan doesn’t answer. He hits him through a wall, then another.

Then another.

“I said,” Si-Hwan mutters coldly, “stay away from her.”

Baek-Gyu laughs again.

“So it’s true.”

His eyes shift toward me.

“You’re attached.”

That word lands heavily.

Si-Hwan’s expression darkens. He strikes again, harder and final. Black flames form from nowhere; crimson and dark mixing together as it consume Baek-Gyu.

Baek-Gyu screams as he burns away completely.

Silence returns that moment.

…

Later, we sit on a rooftop overlooking Seoul. Neither of us speaks for a while. Wind moves between us.

Finally, I break the silence.

“…So what happens now?”

Si-Hwan looks at the city lights. His voice is quieter than before.

“The contract can’t be broken…and until we fix this…”

He exhales.

“…I’m stuck with you.”

I glance at him.

“…And you’re stuck listening to me?”

The chain between us glows faintly. Si-Hwan groans. “…Unfortunately.”

I smile slightly, well not bitter this time, not broken, just… real.

And for a moment, he looks at me differently. Like he notices something he didn’t before. Neither of us says it, but something has already started changing for sure.