"And it's me again.
The game will start soon.
Are you excited?
I hope so.
Because I… can't wait."
His breath stopped dead.
The street tilted.
The world leaned around him.
His whole body trembled — with rage, with fear, with a deep, primal instinct whispering that someone had just declared war on him.
He started running.
No — sprinting.
As fast as his legs allowed.
He rushed to his building, shoved the entrance door hard enough to make it shake, climbed the stairs nearly stumbling several times.
He had only one thought in mind:
Call Daewon.
Right now.
His phone was in his apartment.
He grabbed it with shaking hands and dialed the number.
— Hello Daewon?!
His voice shook.
It was unrecognizable.
Almost monstrous.
— Yes, Mr. Sion, answered Daewon, surprised.
— Find me everything about Nari's ex-boyfriend. EVERYTHING.
His voice cracked.
— What he became after they broke up. Where he went. Who he sees. Where he lives. If he's in Seoul. If he came back. If he… IF HE SET FOOT IN THIS FUCKING CITY!
A silence.
Daewon immediately understood it wasn't a request.
It was an ultimatum.
— Right away, sir, he replied gravely.
Sion nodded into the void, unable to breathe properly.
Someone was playing with him.
With his mother.
With Nari.
With his life.
And Sion was already losing.
He felt it in his chest.
In his breath.
In his rage.
He hung up.
And remained still.
In the dark.
In the silence.
The paper was still trembling between his fingers.
The game was about to begin.
And this time…
he wasn't the one controlling the rules.
The phone vibrated.
One name.
Nari.
Sion felt his heart stop, then restart violently.
He opened the message with a sharp gesture.
Tonight you come after my shift at my place?
I'd like us to talk.
I finish at 5:30.
I love you.
He froze.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Then a breath escaped his chest — long, broken, relieved.
As if the weight of the world had just fallen off his shoulders all at once.
She hadn't left him.
She hadn't abandoned him.
She wanted to talk.
She wanted to see him.
She wanted him.
His fingers trembled.
— Nari…
A wave of dizziness hit him.
The rage, the jealousy, the paranoia… all mixed together.
But one thing remained clear as shattered glass:
He was going to get her back.
Protect her.
Keep her.
And explain everything.
Relief turned into need.
Into craving.
Into obsession.
His gaze landed on the half-empty whiskey bottle on the counter.
Then on another one.
Full.
He drank.
One glass.
Then another.
Then he stopped counting.
The liquid burned his throat, numbed his stomach, drowned the thoughts still screaming in his head.
He wanted to silence the voice that had been shouting in his skull for hours:
Someone knows about my mother.
Someone is watching me.
Someone wants Nari.
Someone is playing with me.
He just wanted… to shut it all down.
So he drank.
Again.
Again.
Until the world blurred.
Until his breath grew heavy.
Until his hands stopped shaking.
And he waited.
Until 5:30.
The moment he could finally see her again.
Touch her.
Feel she existed for real, that she wasn't just a dream, that she hadn't already left.
The moment he could make sure she was still his.
On Nari's side.
She finished her shift at 5:30, exactly as planned.
— See you tomorrow, Nari! Aera called from the register.
— Take care of yourself… And call me if there's a problem, ok?
Nari nodded, a fragile smile at the corner of her lips.
On the way home, the icy dawn air whipped her face.
And for the first time in a long while…
She felt a weight lift.
Maybe… maybe she was finally going to breathe again.
Maybe by talking with him, by setting boundaries, by opening her heart, everything could become softer, more stable, more livable.
She forced herself to believe it.
But deep inside, a little voice whispered, insistent, poisonous:
Can we really be happy with someone like Sion?
Can a man who rips you away from your friends, who holds you too tightly, who insults you, who cages you… love you without destroying you?
The words came back in a loop.
Dirty bitch.
You only need me.
You're not going to work.
Who did you talk to about my mother?
Every sentence, every look, every outburst played in front of her eyes like a painful slideshow.
She shook her head, chased the visions away.
— It's going to be okay, she murmured to herself.
— It has to be.
She forced a smile.
An empty smile, but necessary.
⸻
When she arrived home, she noticed the door was still closed.
No footsteps.
No deep voice.
No key in the lock.
Sion wasn't there yet.
He hadn't replied to her message… but it was Sion.
He rarely replied.
He acted.
She was sure of it: he would come.
She rushed into the shower, impatient to see him again, to smell his scent, to feel that dangerous warmth that had almost killed her but that she no longer knew how to live without.
Water was still running down her shoulders when she heard:
Knock knock.
Two dull knocks.
Her heart jumped.
She grabbed a towel quickly, wrapped it around herself, laughed softly.
— This scene feels familiar… she murmured, thinking of the first time he had come.
She walked to the door, barefoot, cold tiles under her steps, a nearly childlike smile on her face.
She was going to see him again.
Finally.
She was going to fix things.
Tie her future to his, despite everything.
She opened the door.
And her whole body froze.
Silence.
Shock.
Because it wasn't Sion standing there.
It was someone else.
It was—
Sion's father.
Standing in the doorway.
Charcoal suit.
Hands in his pockets.
Steel gaze, cold, cutting.
A thin smile.
A smile that held nothing human.
— Good evening, Nari, he said calmly.
His voice was soft.
Too soft.
A softness that smelled like threat.
Nari's blood turned to ice instantly.
Her towel trembled around her body.
— Wh… what are… you doing here…?
He tilted his head slightly, as if the question amused him.
— I believe it's time we had… a little discussion.