chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen: The Flash Drive

May 17th, 2025

2:47 a.m.

Seoul – Anonymous Drop Point

A courier in a hoodie handed the USB to Eunha's assistant. No words. No return address. Just a label:

> "Trust only what bleeds

Eunha knew immediately who had sent it. She inserted it into an isolated laptop in her private studio. No network. No cloud. Just local memory.

Inside:

> A single video file. Dated the night Sae-jin vanished.

---

The screen was black at first.

Then it flickered to life.

A hotel suite.

Sae-jin, visibly panicked, stood in a room lit only by city lights. A man — unseen, only his voice audible — spoke with cruel calm.

> "You had potential. Until you asked questions."

> "I don't want this anymore," she whispered.

> "You were bought. That contract? It wasn't for movies. It was for silence."

Sae-jin backed away.

Suddenly, Ji-hoon entered the frame — younger, shaking. He moved between her and the voice.

> "You're not taking her."

A struggle. Screaming. Then static.

---

Eunha's hand trembled as she paused the video. This wasn't just proof of coercion.

This was evidence of attempted trafficking.

And Ji-hoon… had tried to stop it.

---

Back at Aura HQ, the fallout was volcanic.

Former managers were subpoenaed.

An emergency shareholders' meeting was called.

Mr. Goh vanished — last seen boarding a chartered jet toward Macau.

But someone intercepted the flight manifest.

A bounty was set, quietly, for information.

And Ji-hoon? He made his move.

---

He called Eunha

His voice was low, steady.

> "Play the video on national television.

No edits. No commentary.

Let the country see what they refused to believe."