Chapter 18: Shadows Beneath Silk
Ji-Hyun's heels clicked against the marble floor of Lee Financial's headquarters, her expression calm, her stride confident. But beneath the elegance was a storm. Not of emotion—but of purpose.
She had made the call two nights ago. Just a whisper of a truth she should never have known.
Min-Jun hadn't returned it.
He always had secrets. But Ji-Hyun had found one that could shatter his carefully built empire. One he had buried deep beneath boardrooms and philanthropy and charm.
A secret dark enough that Seo-Ah, sweet and naive, clearly knew nothing of it.
That was the difference between them. Ji-Hyun knew how to live in a world of power. Seo-Ah was still learning how to survive it.
She stepped into the executive floor, scanning the quiet hallway. His office door was slightly ajar.
Perfect.
---
Inside Min-Jun's Office
Min-Jun stood behind his desk, suit jacket off, sleeves rolled up. There was something more rigid in his shoulders today. As if waiting for a blow he couldn't deflect.
He didn't look up when Ji-Hyun entered.
"I expected you sooner," he said.
"I wanted to give you time to think about what I said."
He finally looked at her then. His jaw clenched.
"Where did you hear it?"
She smiled, slow and cool. "I have my ways."
Min-Jun stepped forward, hands at his sides. "That name. That file—it was supposed to be destroyed."
"But it wasn't. And now I know, Min-Jun."
His eyes darkened, voice low. "You don't know what you're playing with."
"I'm playing with truth. Dangerous, inconvenient truth," she said, walking toward him. "And you've lied to Seo-Ah. She doesn't know what you were before you became the perfect heir. Or what you're still capable of."
He was silent.
Ji-Hyun tilted her head, voice softening to something far more dangerous. "So tell me… will you risk her finding out who you really are? Or will you finally give me the honesty I deserve?"
---
Later: Seo-Ah's Perspective
Seo-Ah walked the quiet hallway with a small file in hand. She had been called up to Min-Jun's office for a quick review.
But as she neared, she slowed. Voices. Ji-Hyun's voice.
She couldn't hear much—but the tone was unmistakable. Not just personal. Threatening.
Then she heard her name.
"…She doesn't know," Ji-Hyun said.
Silence.
Seo-Ah's chest tightened.
Doesn't know what?
She took a step back, unsure if she should knock—or walk away.
But curiosity had already rooted her there. And suspicion had already begun to bloom.
Seo-Ah didn't think.
She pushed the door open.
The sharp sound of it startled both Ji-Hyun and Min-Jun. Ji-Hyun turned, her expression slipping just briefly before the mask returned. Min-Jun's eyes widened—his posture rigid with something that wasn't guilt, but wasn't innocence either.
"Seo-Ah," Ji-Hyun greeted, smooth as ever. "We were just discussing something personal."
Seo-Ah ignored her. Her eyes were on Min-Jun.
"What don't I know?"
The silence that followed was heavy. Min-Jun didn't move. Didn't blink.
Ji-Hyun stepped aside, gesturing like she was doing Seo-Ah a favor. "I'll let him tell you. After all, you're special, right?"
Min-Jun's voice was low. "Enough, Ji-Hyun."
She smiled. "You should have thought of that before trusting the wrong people to clean up your past."
And with that, Ji-Hyun walked out, her heels like gunshots on marble.
Seo-Ah remained still.
"Min-Jun," she said, quieter this time. "What did she mean?"
He didn't speak at first. Then he moved, walking slowly to the window, as if the view of the city might somehow offer him an escape.
"I wasn't always clean, Seo-Ah," he said finally. "Before Lee Financial… before all of this—I did things to survive. Dangerous things."
Seo-Ah didn't speak. She waited.
"I was involved with people who live in shadows," he continued. "My father doesn't even know the full extent. I used those connections to build my power quickly. Illegally, at first. But I broke away years ago. I buried it."
Her breath caught. "Why didn't you tell me?"
He turned toward her, eyes unflinching. "Because I didn't want you to look at me like this."
She looked away, heart pounding.
"But Ji-Hyun found something," he said. "A name I erased. A transaction that links me to an underground group I haven't touched in years. She's using it to threaten me—and to hurt what we have."
Seo-Ah finally looked at him. "Do you still have ties to them?"
"No. I swear it. But if this gets out... it could destroy everything. My company. My future. You."
Her throat tightened. "Why would she do this?"
"Because I chose you."
Seo-Ah took a shaky breath, the room spinning with truth, fear, and something else—betrayal.
"Then you better decide quickly what you're willing to lose, Min-Jun," she said, stepping backward. "Because right now, it feels like you're still living in two worlds."
She left without another word.
After a hectic day,
She was just heading out of the building when she felt it—that subtle prickle of unease crawling up her spine. The sun had dipped below the skyline, bathing the city in twilight. The usually bustling back entrance of Lee Financial was quiet, too quiet for a weekday evening.
Her steps faltered as she reached for her phone. The moment her fingers touched the screen, it slipped from her hand—shoved aside by a rough force. A cloth pressed hard against her mouth. The scent was chemical, sharp, suffocating.
She kicked, tried to scream, but everything went black before her knees even hit the pavement.
---
Min-Jun
An emergency board meeting had kept him late. Seo-Ah had texted to say she'd head home first. He hadn't replied yet—not because he didn't want to, but because he was still trying to find the words to tell her what he couldn't hide forever.
When he finally checked his phone, her unread message stared back at him. And that's when it started.
His private line buzzed.
Unknown number.
He answered.
"Nice suit, Lord Min-Jun. You wear the corporate mask well." The voice was slick with amusement and menace.
He stilled. "…Who is this?"
"Oh come on. You haven't forgotten your old friends, have you? We've been looking for you. For years. The empire you left behind is burning. And now, you're playing office prince?"
The line crackled.
"We found her, by the way. Your pretty little distraction."
Everything in Min-Jun froze. "What have you done?"
"She's alive. For now. But how alive she stays depends on you. You want her back? Come home."
The call ended.
---
Ji-Hyun
She hadn't meant for it to go this far.
Her intention had been simple: dig into Min-Jun's past, expose him, force his hand—break whatever strange hold Seo-Ah had on him.
But the information she uncovered was far darker than she'd imagined. She thought he was maybe corrupt, maybe entangled in something he couldn't walk away from.
Not this.
Not that name.
The Dark Lord of Seoul's underworld.
She had whispered it to the wrong person in her desperation. A contact of her father's. A man with too much power and too many secrets. And now, it was spiraling out of control.
When she heard Seo-Ah had vanished, guilt clawed up her throat like bile.
What have I done?
---
Seo-Ah
The warehouse was cold. Concrete beneath her bare knees. Her wrists were tied to the metal arms of a chair, and a cut throbbed on her temple. The man pacing before her looked too clean to belong here—dressed like a businessman, but with the eyes of a predator.
"Why am I here?" she whispered.
The man crouched before her, resting his forearms on his thighs. "You don't know, do you? Poor thing. You fell in love with a lie."
He leaned closer. "Min-Jun isn't who you think he is. He was one of us—our king. He walked away. Burned bridges. Left chaos in his wake. But now? Now we have a way to bring him back."
Her breath caught.
"We use you."
---
Min-Jun
He stood in the vault below his penthouse—the room no one but him had access to. Behind layers of reinforced glass, a different world waited. Weapons. Files. Ledgers from a life he swore to leave behind.
But now Seo-Ah was gone.
And Ji-Hyun had poked the dragon.
He opened the case and pulled out the black matte handgun. Removed his tie. Rolled up his sleeves.
His reflection in the vault mirror stared back—colder, sharper, lethal.
He would find Seo-Ah.
Even if it meant becoming the monster he buried.