Boots thundered up the stairs. Miyoung shoved the USB into Yoochan's palm, her fingers icy. "Run. Now."
He hesitated.
"Yoochan-ah!" Her scream shattered the air as black-suited men flooded the kitchen.
Seojun dragged him backward. "We can't help her if we're dead!"
They crashed through a servant's exit into the storm. Rain blurred the estate lights as shouts echoed behind them.
"This way!" Sooyoung emerged from a delivery van, engine idling.
Yoochan lunged inside, the USB digging into his flesh like a shard of his mother's bones.
---
The safe house was a cramped basement reeking of mildew. Seojun paced, bandaging a gash on his arm. "We need the police—"
"They are the police," Sooyoung snapped, hacking into the Parks' server. "Yena's waiting. One click and the dossier goes public."
Yoochan stared at the USB. Protocol 2015. His mother's final gift—or curse.
"The Parks want a trade," Sooyoung continued. "The dossier for asylum. And you."
Seojun froze. "What?"
"Yoochan marries Yena. Merges Kang and Park empires. Poetic, right?"
Yoochan's laugh was hollow. "Joonho'll burn their headquarters first."
"He's busy explaining why his drones killed twelve civilians." Sooyoung turned the screen—news footage of Kang Tech's logo melting under protestors' flames.
Seojun gripped Yoochan's shoulder. "We don't bargain with monsters."
"We are monsters." Yoochan plugged in the USB.
Files bloomed: blueprints for a Seoul skyscraper, permits forged in blood. Then, a list.
PROTOCOL 2015: ASSET TERMINATIONS
Names. Dates. His mother's name.
"Construction 'accidents.'" Yoochan's voice shook. "She wasn't his shadow. She was his gravedigger."
Sooyoung inhaled sharply. "This ends them."
"Or starts a war." Seojun paled. "The Parks won't protect us. They'll use this."
Yoochan stood, the USB a lodestone in his hand. "Call Yena."
---
Yena Park's penthouse smelled of jasmine and jade. She eyed the USB like a scorpion. "Proof?"
Yoochan played the audio:
Patriarch Kang's voice: "The Incheon site must collapse. Bury the witnesses."
Yena's polished mask cracked. "My cousin died there."
"Now you can avenge her." Yoochan placed the USB in her palm. "But first, asylum."
She curled her fingers around it. "My price just doubled. Marry me. Tonight."
Seojun stepped forward. "He's seventeen—"
"And I'm holding his life in my hand." Yena smiled. "Say yes, or I'll mail this to Joonho."
Yoochan met her gaze. "Why?"
"Because watching Kang men squirm is my favorite hobby." She tossed him a ring. "Wear this. The press arrives in twenty."
---
The patriarch's study reeked of medicinal herbs and rotting roses. Joonho knelt, bandages peeking beneath his shirt.
"The boy lives," Kang Daehyun rasped, stroking a bonsai with skeletal fingers. "Your failure… disappoints."
Joonho's head dipped lower. "I'll retrieve the dossier—"
"No." The patriarch crushed a dried leaf. "Let the Parks think they've won. Then burn their hope at the altar."
A news alert chimed.
BREAKING: KANG HEIR TO WED PARK DAUGHTER!
The patriarch laughed, a sound like rusted hinges. "Prepare a gift. Something… flammable."
---
Yoochan stood at the penthouse window, the engagement ring cutting into his finger. Below, paparazzi swarmed like ants.
"Regretting your choices?" Yena handed him a whiskey, her smile sharp as her diamonds.
"You're using me."
"And you're using me. How romantic." She clinked his glass. "To mutual destruction."
His phone buzzed—a photo from Sooyoung. Miyoung in a hospital bed, alive but shackled.
Unknown Number: Congratulations, Oppa. Let's play again soon. -Joonho
Yoochan crushed the phone in his fist.
Yena raised a brow. "Trouble in paradise?"
He downed the whiskey, fire searing his throat. "Just the beginning."