Seoul's night was alive with neon reflections and the soft hush of passing cars, but to Arjun Mehra, it was nothing but a hunting ground.
From the window of his modest apartment, he had a clear line of sight to Chae-Rin's house. The warm glow of the living room window was a small beacon in an otherwise cold, dispassionate world.
And inside it, Hana moved — laughing with Chae-Rin over dinner, stretching out on the couch, a flicker of light in a city full of shadows.
Arjun's gaze never wavered.
There was something primal in the way he watched her. Not lust. Not infatuation.
Possession.
Obsession.
Protection.
Like a predator stalking its claim.
Not to harm.
But to keep.
He knew her routines now. Knew which nights she stayed in, which evenings she wandered to the convenience store two blocks away. Knew how she tucked her hair behind her ear when she was anxious, how she tapped her thumb against her phone when waiting for someone to text.
And he knew the others, too.
The extra men Ji-Yeon had posted nearby, pretending to be drunks, passersby, couples in parked cars.
Fools.
They thought they could watch over Hana.
They didn't realize she already belonged to a deadlier shadow.
Him.
Tonight, though, something shifted.
His phone buzzed — a message from one of his remaining contacts still buried in Ji-Yeon's network.
"Boss dismissed you. Doesn't see you as a threat. Orders to monitor but not engage."
Arjun let out a humorless chuckle.
The arrogance.
He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the rage settle, a cold, measured thing now.
It would serve him better that way.
Ji-Yeon had made a mistake.
She'd taken her eyes off the predator.
And that meant it was time to hunt.
But not yet.
Not while Hana was still this close.
Not until the board was set the way he wanted it.
He watched as she leaned against the window, phone in hand, smiling softly at something on the screen. The way the light touched her skin made something fierce and unfamiliar twist in his chest.
She was his tether to humanity.
And the one person who could unravel him completely.
Arjun turned from the window, grabbing the knife he kept at the table's edge and tucking it away.
He would finish this war.
Then he'd decide what to do about her.