"What…?" Suho asked, his voice barely holding together.
"Yes, Suho," Hauen said softly, each word careful, weighted. "Yerin is the one who caused all of this."
His breath hitched violently, as if the air had suddenly turned hostile. Not even in his darkest nightmares had he imagined this. His mind rebelled against the truth, scrambling for denial, for excuses, for anything familiar enough to cling to.
He turned sharply toward Kevin, eyes blazing, still not trusting. "Are you trying to frame Yerin for your own crimes?" he demanded. "What proof do you have that she did all this?"
Even now, he was defending her. Reflexively. Desperately.
Kevin raised an eyebrow, unbothered. He glanced at Hauen, whose face had gone eerily blank, then looked back at Suho.
"And what proof do you have that she didn't?" he asked calmly.
Suho straightened, conviction flooding his tone. "Because I know her. I've known her for years. Almost a decade."
Kevin stared at him for a second.
Then he laughed. Almost… amused, like someone watching a child insist fire won't burn.
"Bro," he said bluntly, "you're too innocent. That's exactly why she used you for years. And the moment you became useless to her, she ditched you."
Suho's glare sharpened, his jaw clenching.
"Then why do you love her? Why did you fall for her, knowing all this?" he shot back.
Kevin fell silent.
Hauen pressed her lips together, struggling not to laugh at the sudden shift.
Kevin glanced at her, then nodded slowly, as if conceding a point. "Because," he admitted, voice almost helpless, "she has that kind of power. Pulls you into her aura before you realize you're trapped."
He sighed, sounding uncharacteristically lovesick.
Suho exhaled sharply. "Enough. Cut the crap and tell me, what proof do you have?"
Kevin's expression sobered instantly.
Without another word, he pulled out his phone, unlocked it, and held the screen toward Suho.
Suho leaned in.
And the moment his eyes landed on the evidence,
They went wide.
One year ago.
Yerin sat alone in a quiet, barely crowded restaurant, slowly sipping her iced Americano. From the outside, she looked composed, almost serene. But behind the dark lenses of her sunglasses, her eyes burned with something sharp and restless.
Hyunwoo arrived a few minutes later. He spotted her, walked over, and took the seat opposite her without a greeting.
She lowered the cup and placed it on the table with deliberate calm.
"Why did you call me here?" he asked, his face cold, voice stripped of patience.
Instead of answering, Yerin tilted her head slightly. "How's your life going?" she asked, almost casually.
Hyunwoo stared at her, unmoving.
A slow smirk curved her lips.
"Alright," she said, leaning forward, resting her elbows lightly on the table. "I'll get straight to the point."
Her next words landed like fuel on an already raging fire.
"I know your life is completely messed up right now," she continued smoothly. "And your sister…" she paused just long enough to let it sting, "…is finally well settled with Kim Suho."
Hyunwoo's jaw tightened. His eyes darkened, memories flashing violently through his mind. The humiliation. The warning. Suho's voice from that night was calm yet deadly, leaving no room for defiance.
"Why did you call me here?" he repeated, this time sharper, anger barely restrained.
Yerin leaned back in her chair, utterly unbothered. The smirk returned, colder than before.
"Good," she said lightly. "Now that I have your attention, let's talk business."
"I know it was you." Yerin's voice remained calm, almost lazy, as if she were commenting on the weather.
"I know you planned that attack on Suho at Gangnam Street," she continued, taking another slow sip of her Americano. "You wanted to scare him, push him to the edge. But instead, it backfired and harmed your sister."
Hyunwoo's eyes widened. The color drained from his face so fast it was almost visible.
"And when that failed," she went on smoothly, "you tried again. This time, poisoning his water bottles. You wanted to paralyze him again. Didn't you?"
For a split second, Hyunwoo forgot how to breathe.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" he said quickly, forcing a laugh that sounded hollow even to his own ears.
Yerin tilted her head, lips curling into a knowing smirk.
"Don't act innocent, Kang Hyunwoo."
She set the cup down, fingers perfectly steady.
"I've been keeping an eye on you," she said quietly. "On your family, too. And surprisingly, I happened to learn a few… interesting things." Her gaze sharpened. "Including proof."
The air between them thickened. Hyunwoo swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry.
"W-What proof?" he asked, trying to sound composed, failing miserably as his hands began to sweat.
Yerin chuckled softly. Then she reached into her bag and slid her phone across the table.
On the screen were photographs. Two men. Faces clear. Unmistakable.
Hyunwoo's breath hitched.
"One of them is dead," she said flatly, watching his reaction with unsettling calm. "The other…" she paused, eyes glinting, "…is under my custody."
Silence crashed between them.
Hyunwoo's shoulders slumped, the fight draining out of him as reality closed in.
"What do you want?" he asked immediately, voice low, defeated.
Yerin leaned back in her chair, satisfied. The smirk returned, slow and deliberate.
"Very good," she said softly.
Hyunwoo's chest rose and fell unevenly, breath ragged, eyes burning with a storm he could no longer contain.
"I want my Suho back."
Yerin's voice cut through the air, sharp and resolute. The playful smirk vanished, replaced by something far colder, far more dangerous.
Hyunwoo stared at her, trying to understand where this was going.
"Your sister," Yerin continued, tone hardening, "was supposed to be his contract wife. One year. That was all. One year, and she had to give him a child within that timeline."
Her fingers curled slowly around the glass.
"And instead, what did she do?" she hissed. "She snatched my man from me. She destroyed my life and living happily with my man."
Her jaw tightened, teeth grinding as old fury resurfaced.
She leaned forward again, eyes locking onto Hyunwoo's.
"And look at you," she said quietly, twisting the knife with precision. "You're the one who brought this proposal to her. You were the bridge, the reason she even stepped into Suho's life." Her lips curved bitterly. "And now? Once she's settled, she throws you away without a second thought."
She paused, letting the words sink deep.
"Don't you think," she murmured, voice low and venomous, "that she deserves a lesson?"
Hyunwoo's anger flared instantly, her words igniting something raw and dangerous inside him.
Yerin exhaled shakily and continued, her voice trembling with restrained emotion.
"Suho and I loved each other for nine years," she said. "Nine damn years." Her eyes glistened faintly. "Our families didn't accept us, but he never left me. Never. But for the sake of his family, he agreed to that marriage. It was supposed to be temporary."
Her expression darkened.
"But your sister," she whispered, "she separated us."
Hyunwoo's fists clenched under the table.
"She took advantage of being his wife. Separated Suho from me. And that accident?" Yerin let out a hollow laugh. "It was the perfect excuse for her to get close to him."
She looked away for a moment, blinking rapidly.
"I went to the US for a few months for business," she said softly. "And in that time, she completely manipulated my Suho. Slowly. Quietly." Her voice cracked. "She snatched him away from me."
A faint shimmer of tears clung to her lashes, not falling, not yet.
Hyunwoo looked at her, the weight of her words settling heavily between them, anger and resentment now burning in tandem.
"What did we get in return?" Yerin asked quietly.
She paused, then let the word fall like a verdict. "Betrayal."
Hyunwoo's jaw tightened. Every sentence she spoke echoed too close to the truth he had been trying to bury.
Yerin tilted her head, eyes sharp behind the dark lenses.
"Don't you think she deserves a lesson?" she pressed. "Don't you think she betrayed both of us for her own comfort?"
She leaned in, voice soft yet venomous.
"Forget my story for a moment. What about you?"
Her gaze bored into him. "Aren't you her brother? How could she abandon you so easily? How could she turn her back on you and make her own brother's life miserable?"
The words kept coming, one after another, slipping into his mind like poison dripping steadily into water.
Hyunwoo swallowed hard, breath heavy, chest tightening. He looked at her, anger and humiliation tangling inside him until he could no longer separate them.
"What… what do you want me to do?" he finally asked.
That was it.
The exact moment Yerin had been waiting for. Her lips curved slowly, satisfied.
"I need your help," she said calmly, "to teach her a lesson."
She leaned back, folding her arms with unsettling ease.
"And in return," she added in a single, measured breath, "I'll give you five billion won."
Hyunwoo froze.
The number hit him like a blow to the head. His thoughts scrambled, his mind stalling, malfunctioning under the weight of both temptation and rage.
Yerin watched him in silence, eyes gleaming, knowing she had already won half the battle.