Night had already fallen completely over Gangbuk.
The wind was gentle.
From the entrance of the main school building, the city lights flickered.
Suhyeon descended the stairs without haste. The echo of his footsteps resonated throughout the school, accompanied by the punctual presence of Ji-hyuk, his advisor, who was already waiting for him at the foot of the vehicle.
A Genesis G90 Executive Black Edition awaited him. Deep black and gleaming in the dim light.
Elegant, without being ostentatious, and literally a machine of silent power.
Ji-hyuk held out the keys with both hands, as if offering something more than metal and technology: a symbol of elegance.
"Have a prosperous journey, my lord," he said, bowing politely.
Suhyeon accepted the keys and climbed into the driver's seat.
"Rest, Ji-hyuk."
He always drove when something important was about to begin.
The door closed with a perfect click. The engine responded with a whisper.
He turned on the lights. A blue neon line crossed the dashboard.
And then...
Beep.
The cell phone vibrated softly in the center holder.
Suhyeon glanced at it. A single notification.
[Mom]: "Son, come home. I have something to talk to you about."
There were no emojis. Just clear words... and the tone of a mother who rarely asked for anything.
Suhyeon read it. Once.
Then he turned on the left turn signal and merged into the lane.
He didn't even think about replying.
He just... drove calmly.
The car disappeared around the bend, gliding toward the heart of the city.
Minutes later, the car stopped in front of the house.
Everything was the same: dim lights, door ajar.
Suhyeon turned off the engine, got out, and walked toward the entrance.
The door closed behind him.
The silence in the house was thick, almost unnatural. As if time had stopped at that very moment.
Suhyeon took a single step. And then... he smelled it.
That metallic, raw smell, familiar to him. But never in his old home.
His eyes scanned the floor.
Stains everywhere.
Small dark puddles leading to the living room.
There, in front of him... was Dahyun... lying on the sofa.
Her body was curled up on one of the cushions, as if she had tried to protect herself. Her hair was tousled and stained with blood.
Her forehead was split open, with a dry trickle running down to the corner of her lip. One hand hung over the edge, motionless. Drops of blood fell to the floor.
Plop! Plop! Plop!
Suhyeon stood motionless, his body paralyzed, unable to do anything but stare at the shocking scene, his hands clenched tightly.
For the first time in a long time... something broke in his gaze.
It was a pause. As if his mind couldn't process it all at once.
Suddenly... he heard it.
Ragged breathing... stifled sobs.
He slowly turned his head.
And there, in the shadows of the dining room, was his mother.
Tied to a chair.
Her head bowed, her arms covered in cuts. Her face swollen. But she was still alive.
And when she saw him, when she recognized him... she tried to move.
She shifted in the chair. She wanted to call out to him, even though her mouth was covered.
But only broken sounds came out.
Muffled moans, between crying and straining, to no avail.
And suddenly... a laugh.
A broken, dirty laugh. As if it came from someone who had crossed a line of no return.
"Ha... ha, hahahaha! What a dramatic entrance, Suhyeoooon!"
The voice came from the shadows. Right behind his mother.
And when he saw him... he knew.
Choyun.
Standing there, completely dirty, disheveled, and with a face full of poorly healed bruises. The blade of a knife glinted in his hand.
His eyes were wide open, and his smile was so wide it seemed inhuman.
"Look at this..." he said sarcastically, pointing around him. "Isn't it beautiful?"
"HAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Suhyeon didn't respond, just stared at him.
His mother sobbed, moving her lips without being able to speak. Every attempt at speech was another stab of pain.
"I thought you'd come sooner," Choyun said quickly, grimacing. "But you gave me time to prepare this calmly."
Suhyeon looked down once more at Dahyun.
Her fingers, barely visible, were trembling.
"Do you see her...?" She got stubborn, the bitch," Choyun continued. "But don't worry. She's still alive. For now!"
Choyun's voice trembled between laughter and madness.
"Look at your mother, Suhyeon. Do you know how many times she repeated your name? She loves you so much... and you're so far away, so busy ruling Gangbuk."
His mother looked at him with desperation.
At her beloved son, Suhyeon.
And even without a voice, without strength... her eyes said what her mouth could not.
He... was seeing everything.
Everything he shouldn't see, everything he never imagined seeing... he could never have predicted this future.
And for the first time... he didn't have an immediate answer.
Watching the scene as if the world had become unreal.
Choyun leaned back in his chair with a crooked smile. His mother struggled, her arms tense, her gaze desperate.
"You want to talk to your son, huh?" he said, his bloody fingers gripping the tape covering her mouth.
"Go ahead. Say something nice to him."
With a single tug, he ripped off the tape.
Plash!
His mother let out a choked, trembling cry, her breath cut short by the pain. The skin on her lips was dry and cracked. But that didn't stop her.
"S-Suhyeon... go...!" she cried, gasping.
"Quick, please!" she sobbed, her throat broken.
"Take Dahyun, save her, please... don't look back, don't... don't stop..."
The words came out in pieces, almost without air.
"I... I'm fine... but she... she can't take it anymore... go now!!"
Suhyeon tried to say something... but just then...
Her mother tried to keep talking, her lips trembling, her body shaking from the effort, from the fever, from the loss of blood.
She had more to say. Something important. Something only a mother could whisper in the darkest moment.
"I lo–"
But she didn't have time.
Shhk!
The knife came down in a sharp arc. Silent, precise, and deadly.
And then...
Crack!
Her head fell to the ground like ripe fruit.
It rolled once.
Twice.
And stopped, staring at him.
Her eyes still open, blood dripping from her mouth and pooling beneath her.
She died loving him. Even when the world failed her, she still believed in him. That faith... now bleeding out onto the floor.
And he... hadn't been able to save her. Not even to speak to her one last time.
...
A stream of blood spurted from her neck like a cursed fountain, splattering the furniture, the table, the walls... and Choyun.
His face was instantly stained red. His chest. His arms. Everything.
And he... simply laughed.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! God, she was so annoying!" he shouted as he opened his arms, letting the blood bathe him.
"She talked too much! I was sick of her!"
His mother's head was still on the floor. Motionless.
His mother's blood slowly trickled down his shoes, and he didn't even blink.
But his throat tightened on its own. As if his body was trying to scream something... without him being able to do so.
Choyun, breathing heavily and with madness shining in his eyes, looked directly at him.
"What now, king of Gangbuk? Where is your greatness, your power, your strategy? Look at me!"
He pointed at his chest with both thumbs, splattering blood all over the dining room.
"Here I am! And I did it without a system, without allies, without zones, and without anything!"
"ONLY WITH HATRED!"
He laughed again.
Amidst the chaos, between the blood and the madness, Suhyeon had not yet uttered a single word.
But something in his face... something imperceptible... began to change.
As if something inside him was tearing apart.
And for the first time…
he understood the most painful truth:
he was never a god,
just a boy who believed
that having control
was the same as winning.