Chapter Seven

Hye-Jin stepped aside hesitantly, letting Gyeong-Ja in. Her friend's presence was an odd mix of comfort and foreboding — a sharp contrast to the carefree persona Gyeong-Ja usually carried.

»What's going on?« Hye-Jin asked as she gestured toward the couch. She set the pepper spray down on her hallway counter, but still within reach. She wasn't ready to let her guard down just yet.

Gyeong-Ja didn't sit. Instead, she started pacing the small living room with tension that seemed uncharacteristic of her and radiated from every step. Her hands clenched and unclenched as if she was struggling to form the words.

»I wasn't going to come back,« Gyeong-Ja started- finally, her voice low but steady. »I really was planning to leave everything behind — to have Italy, cocktails, all of it. But something happened, Hye-Jin. Something that makes staying here impossible to ignore.«

Hye-Jin's icy-blue eyes narrowed, her curiosity piqued, but her instincts were still sharp. »What kind of 'something'? Spill it, Gyeong-Ja.«

Gyeong-Ja paused, turning to face her best friend. The darkness in her brown eyes seemed deeper now, almost consuming. »It's Sung Jin-Hun — and his connections to Kwon Corporations.«

»What about them?«

Gyeong-Ja took a deep breath, her shoulders trembling slightly as she exhaled. »I overheard something — something I wasn't supposed to hear. At a family gathering, Sung Jin-Hun was there, talking with some high-ranking people from Kwon Corporations. Hye-Jin… they mentioned Cho Holding Company, your family — and you.«

Hye-Jin stiffened, her chest tightening. »What did they say?«

»They know about you,« Gyeong-Ja said bluntly, her voice trembling. »Not just you — they know details. About the trial, about Ji-Soo… It sounded like they're planning something big, and it has you right at the center.« The weight of Gyeong-Ja's discovery settled heavily in the room, the silence stretching taut between them.

Hye-Jin's grip on the back of the couch tightened, her nails pressing into the fabric. She felt her pulse quicken, her mind scrambled to piece the puzzle together. »Why would they involve me? My family holds the power behind the scenes, but I don't wield any influence that could threaten them— not directly.«

»That's the thing,« Gyeong-Ja replied. »They don't see you as a threat. They see you as leverage — something they can use against Cho Holding Company.«

»Why didn't you tell me sooner?« Hye-Jin asked, her voice low but edged with frustration.

»I wasn't sure,« Gyeong-Ja admitted, her tone apologetic but resolute. »I thought maybe I was overthinking it, that it was just a passing conversation.« She stopped mid-course, her eyes fixated on Hye-Jin, »But after our talk at the restaurant, about Jin-Hun, I had a feeling - and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. And now, after the trial, after everything that happened today… I knew I couldn't possibly leave.«

Hye-Jin nodded; her expression hardened with determination. »You did the right thing coming here. If Sung Jin-Hun and Kwon Corporations are planning something, we need to be ready.«

»What are we going to do?« Gyeong-Ja asked, her voice softer now. Desperate almost.

Hye-Jin straightened, her eyes blazing with resolve. »I'm going to figure out what they're up to — and I'm going to stop them. But I'll need your help.«

Gyeong-Ja nodded without hesitation, her determination matching Hye-Jin's. »You've got it.«

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The door clicked softly behind Gyeong-Ja, leaving Hye-Jin alone with the weight of their conversation. She sank into the couch, her thoughts pulling her in different directions.

Fear gripped her tightly, but beneath it lay something else — a slow-burning anger at the audacity of Sung Jin-Hun and Kwon Corporations to exploit her position and her family. She wasn't powerless. Not entirely.

She shivered. Her apartment suddenly felt colder, lonelier- as if the walls themselves carried the burden of what she'd just learned.

Her tea forgotten and growing cold on the table. She stared at it, her mind swirling with fragments of the puzzle, replaying Gyeong-Ja's words.

Leverage. Plans. Kwon Corporations and Sung Jin-Hun.

It truly was a puzzle, its pieces scattered across her life, and the stakes of solving it grew more urgent with every passing second. Despite the storm inside her, Hye-Jin's icy-blue eyes burned with resolve. If they saw her as leverage, it only meant one thing — she was central enough to matter. And that's something she could take advantage of.

Just outside the building, Jae-Jung lingered in the shadows. He had watched Gyeong-Ja leave, her tense posture betraying the seriousness of whatever had transpired inside Hye-Jin's apartment. His amber eyes burned faintly under the streetlights as his focus shifted back to the faint glow in Hye-Jin's window.

She was pacing now, her movements sharp and purposeful, yet there was an undercurrent of vulnerability that only someone as obsessively attentive as Jae-Jung could detect. She was piecing something together—he could see it in the furrow of her brow, the way her hands occasionally brushed her temples as if her thoughts were too loud to contain.

Jae-Jung's fists tightened, a quiet growl rumbling in his chest. Whatever was happening, it was pulling her deeper into danger, and he could feel the storm clouds gathering. He wouldn't let anyone hurt her—not Kwon Corporations, not Sung Jin-Hun, not even Ji-Soo if it came to that.

But beneath the swirl of thoughts, Hye-Jin felt an instinctual unease creeping up — the faint yet unmistakable feeling of being watched.

She stood abruptly and moved to the window, her eyes scanning the street below. The world seemed ordinary enough, but the shadows felt heavier, the night quieter than it should be. After minutes of staring, she finally let out a deep sigh, letting go of the curtains she previously had clenched.

Ja-Jung watched. Silently. Even as she removed herself from his sight.

Inside the apartment, Hye-Jin sat down at her desk, pulling out the folder Ji-Soo had handed her after the trial. The evidence against Sung Jin-Hun was damning, but Gyeong-Ja's revelation added an additional dimension to the puzzle.

The connections between Sung Jin-Hun, Kwon Corporations, and Cho Holding Company weren't just professional — they were personal. That much was clear.

Her phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen: another message from Ji-Soo. "We need to meet again soon. I fear it has only gotten worse."

Hye-Jin sighed, her frustration mounting. She didn't trust Ji-Soo, not entirely. Her dirty yellow eyes always seemed to shine with ulterior motives, and Hye-Jin couldn't afford to be anyone's pawn in this game. But for now, Ji-Soo was her best lead.

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Hours later, as the city settled into the quiet of midnight, and Hye-Jin did as well, a subtle disturbance broke through the stillness inside of Hye-Jin's apartment.

A faint knock — different from Gyeong-Ja's earlier visit — echoed through the apartment and empty hallway.

The faint knock echoed through Hye-Jin's apartment, shattering the fragile calm she was clinging to. Her hand tightened around the pepper spray as she stared at the door, through the peephole.

But the hallway lay dim and empty. No one in sight.

As the silence stretched, a muffled sound drifted through the walls—a faint, almost imperceptible shuffle that seemed to come from further down the hallway. Hye-Jin's heart raced as she backed away slowly, her instincts screaming at her to stay alert.

A shiver ran down her spine as she double-locked the door and stepped back, her eyes darting nervously around the room. The faint unease she'd felt earlier now gnawed at her insides, a nagging that refused to quiet.

Outside the building, Jae-Jung watched from his perch across the street, his glowing eyes narrowing at Hye-Jin's sudden movement.

The shadows were moving, and something — someone — was closing in on Hye-Jin.

His patience was wearing thin.

If she was in danger, he wouldn't hesitate.