The alarm clock blared with a shrill tune: "Kapika, Kapika, Boo~" Thud! Yoona smacked it with her palm, groggy eyes half‑closed as she dragged herself upright.
"7:34 a.m., January 6, 2070." She rubbed her eyes, reaching for her glasses on the desk, only to notice a strand of shimmering green hair dangling mysteriously from the ceiling.
"Hm? What on earth…" Yoona tilted her head upward and found Rose hanging upside down, his mechanical face peering at her.
"Good morning," the android greeted cheerfully.
"What are you doing up there? If anyone saw you, they'd think you were malfunctioning."
"I read in a biology book that monkeys enjoy hanging upside down from trees. Since humans evolved from primates, I thought I'd try it myself."
Yoon pressed her fingers to her temple. "Oh, for heaven's sake… Yes, but monkeys have smaller brains than humans. And they don't exactly live side by side with us."
"I only followed the data processed in my system. It's part of my self‑learning protocol. Code L10010Q, line 1,983,842,482, section 179."
She scratched her head in confusion. "Maybe So Hyung would understand this better… Anyway, you're funny for a robot, you know that? No wonder you don't blend in naturally. And if I wanted to erase your memory, how would I do it?"
At once, Rose's eyes glowed a vivid green. "Factory Reset is listed under line 1,770,865,621, section 352, code F10001R. But, Yoona Eun Hwa, you don't have authorization to access that command."
Yoona tugged at his dangling hair as if it were a train whistle, forcing Rose to drop from the ceiling with an oddly theatrical motion.
"Obviously, I didn't build you. Just take care of the house for me. I've got to leave for work early today."
"Understood," Rose bowed slightly. "But my energy reserves are down to 20%."
"Conserve it for now. I'll bring back fifty cells this evening." She glanced out the window. Dark, ominous clouds were gathering, heralding a snowstorm sweeping toward Seoul. "I'd better hurry…"
She dashed into the bathroom, washed up, changed clothes, and leapt out the window with her trusty jet‑glider.
Whoosh!
Rose watched the black clouds rolling in, his expression calm though his circuits knew the truth.
"A great storm is coming," he murmured, before descending to the lower floor of the house.
Suddenly, the big guy stepped out of the building with his bodyguards, patting Mr. Park on the shoulder. "I believe that the future… lives will vanish sooner or later. Artificial intelligence is taking its place in daily life. So I offer your employees the chance to chase their own dreams." His smile was meant as encouragement to those about to lose their jobs.
"What a bullshit!" Yoona shouted, her voice sharp enough to make Namgi rush to calm her down. "Who do you think you are? I just graduated, and now I have to hear that i lost my freaking job? Where am I supposed to do then? You are sicker than....an-" Nam‑gi quickly covered her mouth before her anger spilled further.
Xu Wen chuckled, shaking his head. "Young people these days… hot‑tempered don't you think?" He wrapped his arm around Mr. Park, who looked at Yoon with sorrow, as if trying to convey something unspoken. Outside, the winter storm had fully claimed the sky.
(The novel shifts into Yoona's imagination, her pen scratching across the page…)
The battle of two warriors at a snow‑covered cabin raged fiercely. Dong‑hyung swung his sword with desperate fury, determined to save his princess. "I must rescue her!"
The giant warrior with a glaive dodged and countered, slicing at Dong‑hyung's knee.
"Ha! Is that all you've got?" the towering fighter sneered. "Do you think someone like you could defeat the Dragon Lord himself?"
"Fight, Dong‑hyung! Fight!"
"I… cannot yield… not to you! Yaaah!" Dong‑hyung lunged, but the glaive slashed his arm, crippling it forever…
(Her writing halts abruptly.)
Yoona pressed her pen so hard against the notebook that the tip shattered. The stress of her collapsing future weighed heavily on her. Outside her room, Rose stood silently with a cloth in hand, polishing the window. He listened to the crashes and cries echoing from within.
So Hyung, climbing the stairs, asked the android, "How is she?"
"Anger… sorrow… despair," Rose replied, as though he could read emotions from her voice.
"Yeah… that's life, Yoona," So Hyung muttered, stepping inside to comfort her. Rose descended to help her parents prepare dinner, though his energy reserves dwindled further.
Upstairs, Yoona's voice cracked with rage. "It's not just my life, babe! Namgi, everyone, everyone in the company is being thrown out! Do you think I can handle that? Do you know what it's like to carry the weight of this family alone? I studied until my brain nearly exploded, only to have my career ripped away like this! Because of these machines?! Aaaah! This is not right!"
Her screams shook the house. Her parents sat silently on the sofa, heads bowed. Rose glanced at the dragon tattoo etched on his left wrist and whispered to himself,
"Perhaps… I must end this myself." Yet his failing body betrayed him.
At nightfall, Yoona and Rose sat against opposite walls of the room, neither daring to speak. The woman's eyes burned with fury as she glared at the android. "Scrap metal stealing human jobs… is that what you are?"
Rose met her gaze with a cold, unblinking stare.
"Rose…" She pointed at the fractured plating on his face. His eyes flickered once.
"What does it feel like… to be born a machine?" she pressed.
"B…orn…" Rose stammered, his voice glitching.
"Answer me..." Yoona seized his hair, forcing his head to the floor. "Answer me! Tell me, ahh…" Her sobs broke through, tears spilling freely.
"B…orn… a…g-g-gain…" Rose whispered.
Her hands froze. She looked at the pendant hanging from his neck, pressing against his fragile forehead. The pressure ruptured a small oil line, black fluid streaming from his eyes like tears, mirroring her own.
She pulled away as his systems shut down, drained of power. "Get up… give me what i wanted to hear, Rose…" she whispered, wiping the oil stains before lifting his lifeless frame and placing it gently inside the wardrobe.
When dawn broke, Rose felt the surge of electricity coursing through him. His eyes lit up, awakening from his inert state. So Hyung pulled the cable from the back of his head.
"I bought a power‑bank battery to tune you up. It won't damage your data, but… this is the closest thing to proper recharge i could find. It works like charging a phone, though it takes half a day to fill." He handed Rose a black charging box.
"Appreciated," Rose said softly. He glanced at Yoona, who was piecing together fragments of plastic with glue. She rose and fitted the repaired faceplate back onto his hollow visage.
"Consider it an apology for last night," she murmured without enthusiasm.
So Hyung wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Xu Wen may think he's building the future, but forcing interns to face this kind of ruin is too much."
"He'll do it all again…" Rose's words made Yoona lift her head.
"You know him?" she asked.
"…I was his property," Rose admitted, raising his left wrist to reveal a blood‑red dragon insignia.
"Why didn't you tell us about this?"
"For your safety. I didn't want history to repeat itself." His voice carried the weight of memory. Yoona stood in silence, wondering what path lay ahead.
"Jinam, Da Li Hong. He might be able to help us."
"Li Hong is a man of influence, both in the open and the shadows. He can reach The Unterground world most people don't even know exists," Rose explained.
"The Unterground?!" So Hyung narrowed his eyes. "I thought that was just a myth. What does it look like?"
"I'll call him now," Yoona said, pulling out her ballphone. A three‑dimensional projection flickered to life, showing a young man sprawled on a luxurious bed.
"Hello~ make it quick, I'm trying to sleep!" Jinam groaned.
"Li Hong! I need to talk to you urgently."
"Seriously, you called me by the real name? Look, I've got a stage performance in a week, no time for drama."
"It's about daddy issues."
"…Ah. Yes, I'm sorry about that," Jinam sighed.
"No! It's Kevin Xu Wen. Urgently!" Yoona's voice rose.
"That S.O.B? damn, we'll need to talk about this in private."
"Can I bring BF too?" she asked.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll pick you guys up this evening. That's it, I'm going back to sleep."
"Ugh, you grumpy mutt," Yoona muttered as the call ended.
The luxury car rolled out from the house, gliding through suburban roads. After thirty minutes, they arrived at the entrance of an abandoned subway tunnel.
"Alright, we're here. Out you go," Jinam tossed his keys to a waiting bodyguard. "Park it."
"Where have you brought us?" Yoona asked, stepping carefully over loose stones. Rose, his face hidden beneath a hood, placed a hand on her shoulder and pointed toward a flickering lamp. Beneath it stood a battered blue vending machine. Jinam walked straight to it and knocked.
"You thirsty?" So Hyung teased.
"You've been here before?" Yoona asked the android.
"If I told you now, you'd lose the surprise," Rose replied cryptically. The vending machine shifted aside, revealing itself as a hidden door. Jinam turned back with a sly grin.
"Welcome to Müll, the Unterworld," he said, beckoning them inside.
They descended by lift into another level. So Hyung raised his camera, but it refused to work.
"No devices allowed here. If you want to selfie, fine! but you'd have to lose both hands. Ha!" Jinam laughed darkly. "Relax. You're with me, so you'll be fine… probably."
"Is it true this underground criminal lairs?" Yoona asked.
Rose answered before Jinam could. "This place is called Double Müll. known by mirror of light. Seoul above is the light; Müll reflects the darkness. It connects to Shanghai and Hong Kong. Ruled by mafia and triads. Without connections, not even money could bring you down here and get back safely."
"So every major city has some'like this?" So Hyung scratched his head.
"I've been to every' Mull. A freakin' money makin' machine. By the way, your friend, not so human, maybe?" Jinam joked. "Ye, i knew you. My father's lapdog months ago."
Rose pulled back his hood. "You remember me."
"Damn… you look rough. That fucker really did lots of shit to you."
"Wait, you two?" Yoona pointed at them.
"No, not close. But my aunt looked after him before she died. Villains don't wear black. They do wear white to hide the dark part. Black carries guns at the hip; white hides them in the pocket." Jinam explained as the lift doors opened, leading them into his private suite.
"Didn't know you studied philosophy. Now, about your father~" Yoon pressed.
"My father ran Double Müll's dark empire. He bribed authorities, hired thugs. Once, I broke a friend's arm in a fight and landed in custody. My father pulled me out in three minutes flat. He'd do anything to stay untouchable. He took over companies, rotted them from within…" Jinam tore down a portrait of his father and ripped it apart. "…until he became part of the Taos itself."
"So Xu Wen is just a thief in a suit," So Hyung muttered.
"An obese man with lots of dirty money," Jinam corrected bitterly.
"Aunt Feng raised me after Xu Wen silenced my mother. I tried everything to cut him out of mine. He's gone now, but men like Xu Wen always return. I don't yet have the evidence to bring him down." He drained a glass of champagne.
Rose's eyes glowed. "That's why i am here." He projected a memory clip. When it ended, they covered their mouths in shock at its brutality.
"Xue Long, that's my father's Müll alias. Perfect. This could expose him. But if we upload it online, it'll vanish in seconds." Jinam paced, searching for a way to reveal the truth.
Yoona's eyes lit with an idea. "Next week… we're going to the D8 concert, right?"
"Yes, The Seoul Stadium…" So Hyung froze. "Don't tell me that you--"
Jinam's gaze sharpened. "Exactly. That's what we'll do." His grin was wicked.
From the ceiling, a massive vinyl portrait of Xu Wen descended. All eyes turned toward it. The man in the image, their target was the one justice must bring down.