It had been a while since she last saw Kenji. The one who always trained her hard but never let her skip a good meal. As she looked at him, a flicker of warmth crossed her face. "Are you well? You look… thinner," Seri said sincerely.
"Says the one I haven't heard a single update from. How am I supposed to believe you're doing fine?" Kenji teased lightly.
Seri exhaled a breathy laugh, brushing her cheek quickly before it could stain."Did you come to pressure me too? Like the others?" she half-joked, glancing at Taehyun as he let out a quiet laugh.
"You're the key to everything, Seri. That's why… I sent Ken to watch over you," Kenji said seriously, his gaze shifting to Taehyun.
Ken Taehyun. Half-Korean, half-Japanese. His real name was never Lee Taehyun. His true name had always been Ken Taehyun, son of a former Yakuza strategist and one of the most trusted operatives under Kenji Saito, the right-hand man to Iwao, Seri's infamous gangster uncle in Japan. Raised between two identities, trained in both strategy and charm, Ken knew how to blend in where he needed. How to smile like a gentleman, but move like a ghost. His mission wasn't just surveillance. It was protection… of Seri. The world knew him as the charming new director sent from Hyunmyeong Holdings. But only a few… very few ,knew the truth behind the mask.
"So it wasn't Uncle Iwao who sent him?" Seri asked in disbelief.
"No. I asked him personally. I wanted someone I could trust… someone who wouldn't let you fall. He was supposed to stay far away. Just observe. But…" Kenji glanced knowingly at Taehyun. "It was his choice to jump in, act like a attractive executive, and get close to Kang Junho."
Seri turned to him, curiosity laced in her voice, her eyes searching his. "Why would you take that risk?" she asked, stunned.
"Let's just say… I didn't want to stand back and watch you slip," Taehyun said, smirking slightly, avoiding her eyes.
The hidden chamber buzzed with stillness. Old weapons lined the walls, alongside maps, encrypted files, and scattered evidence boards. Kenji Saito rose from his seat and wiped the dust off an old blade mounted beside him.
"There's a part of this mission you were never told, Seri. A thread connecting you, Junho… and that day," Kenji said in a low, steady tone.
Seri remained quiet, her jaw tensing.
"The bakery explosion… wasn't random. It was a retaliation between syndicates. But it went wrong. It wasn't meant to take civilian lives… especially not your parents."
A flicker of emotion crossed her face.
"But while the city was in chaos, and you were pulled from the ruins… he was somewhere else." Kenji's voice dropped. "Kang Junho wasn't there. He was at Seoul Medical, crying beside his mother's body… she'd passed away from illness that morning."
Seri's breath caught.
"That's where Iwao found him. Not a scratch on him, but completely broken. And while the world saw a grieving boy… Iwao saw something else."
Taehyun — no, Ken — watched quietly from the side.Seri stiffened, her eyes narrowing as the weight of the words settled in.
Kenji's voice turned deliberate as he revealed what had remained buried for years. Iwao hadn't simply found Junho that day… he had seen something. Something impossible. It happened at the hospital. Junho wasn't just mourning. He was being manipulated. An unknown man had taken the grieving boy and placed his hand on a young girl's head. He told him to erase it. And Junho did. Instantly, the girl lost everything…her identity, her memories, the truth of what she'd seen.
There had been something between them. A connection. But it vanished with her memory. Iwao had witnessed it from the shadows, never intervening. He simply watched. And from that day on, he tracked Junho's every move. But then came the explosion. The chaos. Civilian casualties. Layers of tangled power struggles. Iwao could no longer handle it alone… so he turned to Seri.
"You were always meant to finish what he started. Because Junho won't let anyone in. Not Daejin. Not Hanna. Not Iwao." Kenji's voice quieted. "But you… he lets you closer than you think."
Kenji paused, then looked at Taehyun…before turning back to Seri. This mission was never about manipulation. It's about unlocking something he buried so deep… even he doesn't know it's there.
"Wait… how would you even know I was the one who could change that?" Seri asked, shocked, her voice trembling.
Kenji looked at her with something between pride and sorrow. He stepped forward, lowering his voice as if revealing a secret that shouldn't be spoken aloud.
"…Because he can't read you right now, can he?"
Seri's breath caught. Her body stilled before she could even mask the reaction. She was shocked not by Kenji's words, but by how true they were. He did try. More than once. And he couldn't read her. Her mind reeled for a second, grasping the quiet truth she had been pushing aside. It wasn't just instinct. It was training. The sleepless nights at Cloudspire. The whispered chants. The brutal trials. She had fought for this. Fought to shield her mind so fiercely that even someone like Kang Junho couldn't get in. And now… it was working.
"Wait—what do you mean by that? Junho can't use his ability on Seri?" Taehyun asked, eyes wide.
Kenji's lips curved into a knowing smile. He glanced between them both and nodded slowly."That's exactly what I mean."
"How do you know I can use my strength to block him?" Seri asked in disbelief.
"You think we only trained your body, Im Seri?" Kenji smirked gently. "You weren't just prepared for combat. You were built to endure anything… physically and mentally." He stepped closer to a nearby shelf, brushing his hand over an old emblem carved into the wood. A swirling symbol resembling wind and stone. "Your training at Cloudspire Monastery… it wasn't just for protection."
FLASHBACK
The Cloudspire Monastery. A blanket of clouds swirled around jagged cliffs. A sacred path, carved into stone by centuries of seekers, stretched steeply into the sky. A small figure climbed. 10-year-old Im Seri, barely taller than the pack she carried. Her knees were scraped, her lips cracked. But she didn't stop.
Inside the training hall that night, lit only by candlelight, she knelt on cold stone. Her hands trembled. Her eyes scanned the rows of etched glyphs around her …symbols of focus, endurance, detachment.
A monk spoke calmly. "Power is not strength. Strength is when your heart cannot be shaken… even by memory." He tapped two fingers to her temple. "If the mind breaks… it becomes readable."
Seri breathed slowly. Her eyes fluttered shut. And in that silence, she began the first of the Nine Trials, to empty her mind and shield her memories from even the unseen.
BACK TO PRESENT:
The air hung thick with truth. Seri sat quietly, her gaze fixed on nothing, her mind racing. Taehyun watched her, slowly starting to piece things together. Then Seri spoke, voice low and measured. "He tried… more than once."
Taehyun blinked.
"He can't read me," Seri continued. A heavy silence followed.
"She's right," Kenji said, turning to Taehyun, quietly impressed. He stepped forward, brushing dust from his sleeves. "Because she's different. Not just trained. Not just strong. Something more. Something even Kang Junho's gift can't reach."
Seri finally looked up. Her eyes were hard. A quiet storm brewed behind her calm.
In the quiet of his bedroom on the top floor of Kang Residence, Junho sat in the dim glow of the city lights bleeding through the wide windows. Dressed in navy pajamas, he rested at the edge of his bed, elbows on his knees, staring at the floor in silence. The room was minimal, cold in its luxury, untouched like the rest of his private world. His eyes wandered to the dresser nearby, where a single, worn picture frame sat …old, printed, and quietly out of place.
He rose, walked over, and picked it up. A photo of four people, little Junho at seven, smiling. Hanna clinging to him. A tall man behind them in a long coat. His father. A serene woman beside him… Hanna's mother. They looked like a family, but no rings, no embraces. Just unspoken closeness.
Junho studied the smiles… forced? Or real? He placed the frame down. Sat back on the bed. Silence folded in, tight. He closed his eyes… but her face appeared. Im Seri. That tight-lipped smile. That fire in her voice.
"I don't need a drink to feel better. Especially not from someone who thinks I'm just a 'typical employee.'"
He opened his eyes. Blinks hard. No. Just guilt. That's all. "I'm not falling for her," he whispered. "I just… said the wrong thing."
But then came the image of her walking away from him in the meeting. Then beside Taehyun, stepping into his car. No hesitation. His jaw clenched. "It's… just guilt," he muttered.
But his expression betrayed him. The phone vibrated. A text from Hanna.
Sleep already?
He typed back. About to. Then another text.
Just… don't think too much. Not everything is worth ruining your peace for.
He stared at it longer than he should.
Another buzz.
I'm glad you accepted my offer. Thank you for doing the interview. I hope the favors… don't stop there.
He didn't respond. Not yet.
He locked the phone. Leaned back.
Because the truth was… there was only one person he wanted to talk to right now. And it wasn't the woman he'd known for twenty years.It was the one who never looked at him the way the others did. The one who never asked for anything… but somehow left him wanting to give everything.