CYEL

Song Minah, a quiet young woman in her early 20s, has suffered more than most. After a mysterious brain injury in her childhood left her selectively mute, she was passed from one foster family to another—until she ended up with a family that used her like a tool. Her step-sister, Sana Lee, driven by jealousy and greed, married Minah’s boyfriend and helped orchestrate her downfall. When the family business crashed, they sold Minah off in marriage to save themselves.

But what no one knew... was that Minah had already been claimed.

Han Jaewook, a reclusive and powerful CEO in his early 30s, suffers from a rare sun allergy and lives behind the veil of secrecy. As a boy, he once loved a girl named Minah—an orphan adopted by his mother. For three brief months, they were inseparable... until she vanished without a trace. Jaewook never forgot her. And when he finally found her again, humiliated by her boss and trapped by the family that betrayed her, he made his move.

He destroyed the family's business and gave them one condition: their daughter Minah would become his wife.

Now under Jaewook’s protection, Minah begins to uncover secrets buried for over a decade—secrets about her real identity, the truth behind her mutism, and the shadowy figures who were involved in her childhood trauma. But some truths don’t want to be found… and someone is willing to make sure they stay buried.

The Silent Bride

The villa was uncharacteristically quiet that morning.

Minah slept in—Jaewook made sure no one disturbed her.

Hyun Soo returned from a breakfast run, juggling bags of toast, gimbap, and exactly one too many milk teas.

Jaewook sat at the dining table, a cup of black milk tea in one hand, eyes glued to the notes on his tablet. His jaw was tight. His thoughts, sharper.

Kang Ho, despite the bags under his eyes and the three yawns-per-minute routine, was reviewing every shred of information they had.

He tapped furiously on his laptop.

"There's gotta be something we missed. A loose end. A paper trail. A corrupted official who suddenly got rich."

Hyun Soo lay spread out on the couch like a lazy cat, holding his phone above his face.

"Okay, hear me out—what if we dress up like delivery drivers and infiltrate his mansion?"

"This is why no one listens to you."

"Hey! Creativity is important in war!"

Jaewook didn't react to either of them. His eyes were still on the same sentence he'd reread ten times.

Minah appeared at the top of the stairs. Still a bit pale. Still quiet. But standing.

She descended slowly, her eyes scanning the room.

Hyun Soo noticed first and sat up straight, suddenly alert.

Kang Ho looked over and gave her a small nod.

Jaewook turned in his chair, his eyes immediately softening.

Minah gave a little nod. Her eyes landed on the mess of files, papers, laptops, and empty milk tea cups strewn across the table.

One dead-serious. One half-asleep. One rambling about disguises.

All of them—trying to bring down a monster.

Minah gave the tiniest smile. Then she lifted her phone and typed.

"I see the brains of the operation are struggling."

Jaewook smiled without even trying to hide it.

Minah sat beside Jaewook, quiet but steady.

She pulled out her phone, then slowly turned the screen toward him.

Hyun Soo dropped his half-eaten toast.

Jaewook leaned in, his eyes never leaving hers.

"At my old house... there's a safe."

"My father used to keep his most sacred documents inside. Sometimes cash. Once, after he hurt me, he yelled at a maid not to touch anything in that room. I didn't understand then. I was too young."

Kang Ho was already typing into his laptop.

"We might be able to track the architectural layout. If we can access any real estate or security logs—"

"We could get into the house," Jaewook muttered, already forming a plan.

"Not directly. But someone might owe me a favor."

> "Please don't say we're dressing up as HVAC repairmen."

"At the lab… I remember it more clearly now."

"It was always cool. Damp. The smell was awful—chemicals, metal, something rotting."

"Surgical lights above. Transparent plastic curtains around beds."

"White coats. Always white coats. They never spoke to me directly."

"It was in a tunnel. Underground. Felt like a maze."

"Cross-reference old city blueprints. Military bunkers. Decommissioned hospitals—anything that could hide something like that."

"We're officially in spy thriller mode now."

Minah took a deep breath and typed one last line:

"If we can find the lab… we find all of the evidence.."

Jaewook turned toward her—gentle, proud, deadly calm.

"Then we burn him from the inside out."

The Quiet Before the Fire