The card sat on Jin's desk like it was watching her.
Plain. White. Elegant.
D. Shin
No title. No address.Just the name — and the unspoken weight that came with it.
She hadn't told Aara.
Not yet.
Because something about the way Aara had looked last night — hollow and haunted after her father left — made Jin pause.
She wasn't afraid of Aara.
She was afraid of what this offer would do to her.
Haru found Daehyun Shin in a private bar two floors beneath the main sponsor suite.
Cigar smoke curled in the air like arrogance.Two bodyguards outside the booth.A glass of whiskey already half-finished.
He didn't look surprised when Haru stepped in.
Didn't look pleased either.
Just bored.
"Didn't expect you to come this fast," Daehyun said without looking up.
"You sent a contract to her."
"I've sent dozens."
"But you meant this one."
Haru dropped the business card on the table.
Daehyun glanced at it.
Smirked.
"You're sentimental."
"You're a parasite."
"And you're still under my shadow."
"Not anymore."
Daehyun leaned back in the booth.
"You came here to threaten me?"
"I came here to remind you that girl isn't yours."
"Everyone's someone's," he said calmly."The question is, who's willing to pay the price to keep them?"
Haru didn't blink.
Didn't sit.
Just stared.
"You break her — I break you."
Daehyun chuckled.
"You've always had your mother's temper. Shame you didn't inherit her spine."
"Shame you didn't inherit any soul."
The glass shattered before Haru even realized he'd hit it off the table.
Daehyun didn't flinch.
The guards stepped forward —but Haru raised his hand.
"One move, and I drag your boss out of here with a camera in his mouth and blood on his belt."
The guards paused.
Daehyun nodded once — a silent cue to stand down.
"You're getting reckless," the older man said.
"You're getting desperate."
"She's already thinking about it, you know. The girl. You can see it in her eyes.She wants more than legacy. She wants freedom."
"And you're going to sell it to her in chains."
Daehyun stood.
Straightened his jacket.
"There are two kinds of fighters, Haru.The ones who use pain.And the ones who are used by it."
He stepped past him, but paused just long enough to whisper:
"Let's see which one she becomes."
Aara was back in the ring.
Not training.
Not teaching.
Fighting.
Not for a name.Not for the crowd.Just for the clarity of bone on bone.
Jin watched from the side.
Silent. Torn.
The match was private.
No cameras.
No sponsors.
Just a test fight — one of Rae's girls, looking to earn rank.
The girl lasted three minutes.
Aara didn't smile when she dropped.
Didn't breathe hard.
Just stepped out of the ring like nothing happened.
"Why are you fighting again?" Jin asked later, while wrapping her own wrists.
"Because if I stay out of the cage too long, I forget who I am."
"You're not just a fighter anymore."
"That's the problem," Aara murmured."I don't know what else I'm allowed to be."
Jin hesitated.
Then asked the question she'd been afraid to voice:
"Would you hate me if I left?"
Aara stopped taping her knuckles.
Turned slowly.
"Is that a real question, or are you preparing to disappear?"
"I'm not leaving. Just asking."
"Then why does it feel like a warning?"
Jin looked down.
A beat of silence passed.
Aara softened — just a little.
"I wouldn't hate you," she said quietly."But I'd grieve.Because it would mean everything we bled to build gets handed to the people we swore we'd burn."
That night, Haru came to the gym.
He didn't knock.
Aara was sitting on the floor, staring at a ripped glove in her hands like it held the answer to something ancient.
"He approached her," Haru said. "Daehyun."
She didn't even look surprised.
"I figured."
"He's pushing hard. Pulling sponsor weight.He wants her as a symbol. A brand."
"He doesn't want her," Aara said."He wants my name without my fight."
Aara stood, slowly.
"Did she say anything to you?"
"Not yet."
"Then she's thinking about it."
"You going to stop her?"
"No."
She looked up at him, eyes unreadable.
"If she chooses them…then she was never really mine to begin with."
Haru stepped closer.
Not touching.
But close enough she could feel the heat of his restraint.
"That's not how you used to talk."
"That's not who I used to be."
"Then who are you now?"
Aara blinked slowly.
"I'm the monster they made… who's learning how not to bite the hands that feed her."
He stepped forward.
Hand on her shoulder.
"Then let me be the one who doesn't make you feel like a monster at all."
She didn't pull away.
Didn't fall into him either.
She just said:
"You already are. But I'm not ready for soft.Not yet."
That night, Jin stood at the river.
Card in her hand.
Six figures still in the envelope.
Her phone buzzed once.
Unknown Number:
"You know where to find us when you're ready to matter."
She stared at the screen.
Then at the water.
Then at the card.
And for the first time in her life—
She didn't know who she was fighting for.