Busan's night was thick with fog as the city's neon bled into the mist. The luxury apartment perched high above the harbour glowed with sterile light, the wide windows looking out onto a city that no longer felt like hers.
Ji-Yeon sat alone in her private study, a cigarette smouldering between her fingers, her eyes fixed on a phone screen.
A voice crackled on the other end of the line.
Yoon Sang-Ho.
"The man from Sinchon… Aryan Malhotra. He's clean on paper, but no real history before last year. Still digging."
Ji-Yeon didn't reply.
Her gaze flickered to the corner of the room, where an old photo lay in a cracked frame.
A picture of her, much younger, with a girl beside her — smiling, unknowing.
Hana.
Her face hardened.
"Forget him for now. Focus on Hana."
Yoon's voice lowered. "Boss… do you think it's connected?"
"I don't know," she admitted, her voice hoarse. "But if anyone comes for me, it'll be through her. She's the only thing left they could use."
She exhaled slowly.
"She doesn't know?" Yoon asked carefully.
"No. And she never will."
Back in Seoul, in a dimly lit office, a secure line buzzed. Ji-Yeon's second-in-command in Seoul answered.
A curt order crackled through:
"Double security around Seo Hana. Don't let her notice, but no one touches her. If she even trips over a stone, I'll have your heads."
"Yes, Boss."
As the phone call ended, several unmarked cars stationed around Sinchon received new instructions. Plainclothes men took up quiet posts near the dormitory, near Chae-Rin's house, and even by the gates of Hana's campus.
None of them wore insignias, and none would speak unless forced.
Shadows tasked with guarding the only weakness Ji-Yeon had left in this world.
Later that night, Hana's phone rang again.
Unni.
She answered quickly, sitting up in bed.
"Hana… listen to me carefully."
"Unni? What's wrong now?"
"I sent some friends of mine to watch out for you. Things are getting… worse."
Hana's stomach twisted. "Unni, you're scaring me. What is going on? Who are these people?"
Her sister hesitated. The line crackled.
"I'll explain soon, I promise. Just—don't talk to strangers. Don't get involved in anything strange around campus. And if you see anyone following you, call me or Detective Hyun-Soo immediately. Please, Hana. For me."
"You're not telling me everything," Hana whispered, heart pounding.
"I can't. Not yet. Just trust me, okay? You're the only good thing I have left in this world."
The line went dead.
Hana sat in the dark, her mind racing, fear threading into her heart.
She didn't know it yet, but the blood in her veins bound her to a war she'd never asked to be part of.
To a sister who ruled the shadows, and to a hunter who now unknowingly lingered just beyond her door.
And in the depths of the city, those shadows were moving again.