Chapter Text
The bass reverberated through the nightclub, rattling the walls and mixing with the low hum of conversations and occasional bursts of laughter. Neon lights danced over the crowd, casting shifting shadows over bodies swaying to the heavy beat. From her secluded booth in the VIP section, Yunjin watched it all with a sense of detached disinterest, her sharp eyes cutting through the haze of the smoke and strobe lights.
But she wasn’t there for the overpriced champagne or the fleeting thrill of the music. Business came first. It always did. As the heir of the Huh family’s sprawling mafia empire, her presence there was both a statement and a warning. She knew that there were eyes that followed her every move like whispers trailing in her wake like ghosts.
Her bodyguard leaned in, his voice low but urgent. “Miss Huh, we should leave. The intel—”
“Let them come,” Yunjin interrupted, swirling the amber liquid in her glass. Her crimson lips curled into a smirk, displaying an unbothered confidence. “I’m tired of playing hide-and-seek with the shadows.”
Her bodyguard hesitated, his jaw tightening, but he said nothing more. He knew better than to argue with her. Yunjin’s authority was as sharp as the stiletto heels she wore, and her confidence wasn’t misplaced. She’d been bred for this life, her every move calculated and her every instinct honed.
But as the minuted stretched on, she felt an unfamiliar tension coil in her gut and her instincts sharpen. Danger. It was coming. She felt it right before the lights in the club dimmed unnaturally low.
Gunfire cracked through the heavy bass, shattering the quiet ambience of the club. Screams tour through the room, replacing the laughter and the crowd erupted in panic as bodies surged towards the exits like a frantic herd of animals. Yunjin’s bodyguard moved immediately, shielding her as bullets ricocheted off the walls. But his protection was fleeting and he was cut down in mere seconds.
Yunjin cursed under breath, diving behind the bar as adrenaline surged through her veins. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest, but her movements were steady as she reached beneath the slit of her dress, pulling out a sleek pistol from her thigh holster.
“So they finally decided to grow a spine,” she muttered darkly, peeking over the counter to assess the situation. Her sharp eyes scanned the chaos, quickly counting five masked attackers. Their movements were coordinated and efficient. Professionals.
Before she could move, she felt a shadow looming behind her. She spun around on instinct, her gun raised—but a gloved hand clamped over hers, forcing the barrel down.
“Easy there, princess,” came a low, teasing voice, dripping with equal parts mockery and menace.
Yunjin’s breath caught in her throat as her gaze locked onto dark, smouldering eyes. “You,” she hissed.
Chaewon stood before her, clad in a black leather jacket that clung to her like a second skin. A bloodied blade glinted in her hand. The serial killer, whose presence haunted the city—a mystery who no one dared to cross.
“Stay down,” Chaewon ordered, her voice sharp, yet strangely intimate, as though she were sharing a secret with her. Without waiting for a response, she stepped past Yunjin, moving with the predatory grace of a trained panther.
Yunjin was torn between fury and fascination as she watched Chaewon. Her movements were almost hypnotic—lethal yet elegant, each strike of her blade calculated and with a sense of finality. Blood slicked the floor as bodies crumpled, but Chaewon remained untouched, like a phantom dancing gracefully through the chaos.
When the last attacker fell to the ground, Chaewon turned back, her dark eyes meeting Yunjin’s. There was no triumph in her gaze, only a calm intensity that sent sent an unwelcome shiver down Yunjin’s spine.
Yunjin rose from her hiding spot, gun still in hand, her voice cutting through the thick silence. “Why did you save me?”
Chaewon wiped her blade on one of the fallen men’s jackets, her expression maddeningly impassive. “Just because I’m the bad guy doesn’t mean I’m a bad guy. And besides, who says I did?”
“Don’t play games with me,” Yunjin snapped, stepping closer.
Chaewon’s lip twitched, the faintest hint of a smirk curling at the corners. “You looked like you needed the help.”
Yunjin bristled, levelling her gun to Chaewon’s head. “I don’t need anyone’s help. Least of all yours.”
Chaewon’s gaze flicked to the weapon, amusement clear on her face. “Put that away before you hurt yourself, sweetheart.”
The condescension in her tone lit a fire in Yunjin’s chest. “Do you even know who you’re talking to?”
“The heir to the Huh family,” Chaewon drawled, tilting her head with exaggerated boredom. “Blah, blah. Trust me princess, I’ve heard it all.”
Yunjin’s grip tightened on the gun, her teeth clenching. “You don’t do anything without a reason. What are you trying to get at?”
Chaewon stepped closer, her presence overwhelming. An overpowering scent of leather and a faint metallic tang of blood clung to her skin. She leaned in just enough for her breath to ghost over Yunjin’s ear. “Maybe I just like watching you squirm.”
Yunjin’s breath hitched, her composure breaking for a split second.
Chaewon straightened up again, her smirk widening as she gestured to the fallen attackers. “The guys who came after you? They’re with someone I’m after. You were just collateral damage. Nothing more.”
Yunjin searched her face, desperate to find cracks in her facade, but Chaewon remained infuriatingly unreadable. “You’re saying this was all a coincidence?”
“Believe what you want.” Chaewon turned around, her voice a little eerie in the stillness of the club. “But next time? Try not to die before I get what I need. Just stay out of my way, yeah?”
Before Yunjin could say anything, Chaewon slipped away into the shadows, her figure disappearing into the night like smoke, leaving Yunjin seething and breathless.