RAINBOW OF TEARS
SEOUL – 72 HOURS AFTER THE GALA
The city was buzzing with a different kind of energy. The fall of Park Yong-sik wasn't just a business scandal; it was a seismic event. The news cycles were a feeding frenzy: "Chaebol Prince's Criminal Empire Exposed," "Luxe Plaza Stock Plummets," "National Tax Service Launches Full Audit." The luxurious, impenetrable facade of the chaebol world had been cracked open, and the public watched, riveted and vengeful.
In the eye of the storm, Park Min-Ji moved with a new, steely grace. Dressed in a severe but elegant black suit—a nod to the corporate mourning period—she held a press conference from the Luxe Plaza headquarters. She spoke of transparency, of a new ethical charter, of redirecting the "Luxe Horizon" to include community partnerships. She was the savior, the whistleblower from within, the young queen who had cleansed the court. The board, terrified and scrambling to distance themselves from Yong-sik, rallied behind her unanimously. Her position was now unassailable.
Yet, as the cameras flashed, her eyes kept drifting to the empty space at the back of the room. He wasn't there. He never would be.
---
RAINBOW TAXI FORTRESS, B2 COMMAND CENTER
The mood was one of grim satisfaction, but not celebration. A major evil had been dismantled, but their world operated on a simple law: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Jang Sung-chul stood before the main screen, which now displayed a new, more troubling web. "Yong-sik is in custody, singing like a canary to try and lessen his sentence. Kang Deok-su has been arrested on charges of extortion and assault. A clear victory." He tapped a key, and the image zoomed out. "But look at the vacuum."
New lines were being drawn. Other, smaller chaebols and foreign investment groups were already circling Luxe Plaza's weakened stock, ready for a hostile takeover. More disturbing were the connections being severed on the map—Yong-sik's underworld contacts, his black-market suppliers, his private security muscle. They hadn't vanished. They had simply gone to ground, or worse, found new patrons.
"Yong-sik was a client, not the master," Kim Do-gi said, his voice a low growl. "He paid for services. The people who provided those services—the ones who sold him the car kill-switch, the ones who funneled his money, the ones who supplied Kang Deok-su with his thugs—they're still out there. And we just made them very nervous."
Ahn Go-eun swiveled in her chair. "I've been monitoring darknet chatter. There's talk. Someone is asking questions. About the 'too-perfect' leak. About the ghost who took down a chaebol. The word 'vigilante' is being used."
A cold silence settled over the room. Exposure was their eternal nightmare.
Min-Hyuk, leaning against a console, processed the data. Instant Calculation: Probability of a coordinated counter-strike from displaced criminal elements: 68%. Probability of their operational security being breached if investigated by a competent, well-resourced private entity: 42% and rising.
"Where is Min-Ji-ssi now?" he asked, his voice neutral.
"Back at the Hanok villa," Sung-chul said. "Her grandfather's condition has stabilized. She's the de facto head of the family now. She's safe."
Enhanced Senses cataloged the slight tightening around Sung-chul's eyes. He wasn't telling the whole truth. "But?"
Sung-chul sighed. "But the arrest of Yong-sik has triggered clauses in the family's internal trust. Control of certain legacy assets—including a private equity fund with… nebulous investments—has automatically shifted. Not to Min-Ji, but to a board of trustees controlled by the other family branches. Her aunts. They were Yong-sik's allies. They've just inherited his tools, without his imminent criminal exposure."
Min-Hyuk's mind made the connection instantly. "They have the keys to his underworld address book."
"Precisely. And they are not happy with the girl who humiliated the family and cost them a fortune."
A new variable. More dangerous because it was personal, and rooted in the very world Min-Ji had just fought to secure.
---
SEOUL – HANOK VILLAGE, LATE NIGHT
Min-Hyuk found her not in the main house, but in the same moonlit garden where he had pulled her into the shadows. She stood by the ancient pine, still in her press conference suit, staring at her phone, which glowed with countless congratulatory messages. She looked utterly alone.
"The queen of the ashes," she said without turning, sensing his presence. Her Enhanced Senses weren't the only ones attuned. "It's a hollow crown."
"You won," he said, stepping closer.
"Did I?" She turned, and the face she showed him was stripped bare. The regal composure was gone, replaced by a deep, trembling exhaustion and something else—fear. "My aunts have called an emergency family council tomorrow. They're saying I've 'destabilized the legacy.' They're talking about appointing a 'regent' until I'm 'ready.'" She gave a broken laugh. "I toppled one monster just to see three more rise from his shadow."
"The shadows are my territory," Min-Hyuk said, the words leaving his lips before calculation could stop them.
She looked up at him, her eyes searching his in the dim light. "Is it? Your territory? Or are you just passing through on your way to the next case?" The question was raw, vulnerable. It wasn't about the mission anymore. It was about the man in the garden, the hand on her back, the silent partnership in the war room.
He had no programmed response for this. Detachment Protocol was in tatters. "I don't pass through," he heard himself say. "I complete the delivery."
"And what is the delivery here, Kim Min-Hyuk?" She took a step closer, the scent of her perfume and night air wrapping around him. "Justice for my uncle? That's done. What's left?" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Am I just another case to be closed?"
The space between them crackled with unsaid things. The logical part of him screamed to retreat, to re-establish the boundaries of driver and passenger, vigilante and client. But he was tired of being a collection of powers and protocols. The garden had changed him.
Before he could form an answer, his Delta implant vibrated—a sharp, urgent pulse. Priority alert.
He raised a finger to his ear, his gaze never leaving hers. "Report."
Marco's voice was taut, stripped of its usual calm. "Principal. We have a problem. The package we were holding for transfer—Yong-sik. He's gone."
Min-Hyuk's blood froze. "Explain."
"We had him in a soft-site in Incheon. Two of our men were on him. They've gone dark. The site shows signs of a professional, quiet extraction. Not the police. Not the NIS. This was a black-bag job. And they left a message."
"What message?"
"A single playing card. The Ace of Spades. Pinned to the wall with a combat knife."
Sub-Mind Archive: Ace of Spades – Military slang for 'death from above.' Also, the calling card of 'Spade,' a legendary, ultra-elite freelance extraction unit rumored to be based in Macau. They don't do kidnappings. They do retrievals for clients who pay more than nations.
"This wasn't a rescue," Min-Hyuk said, his voice cold. "This was a reclamation. By his new patrons."
Min-Ji saw the change in his face, the shift from the conflicted man back to the lethal strategist. "What is it?"
"Your uncle is free. And the people who took him are several leagues more dangerous than he ever was." He turned, the moment of intimacy shattered by the new, more profound threat. "You're not safe here. The villa's security is designed to keep out reporters and business rivals, not a unit like this."
As if on cue, the garden's motion-sensitive lights flickered once, then died, plunging them into deeper darkness. Not a power cut. A targeted EMP pulse.
Min-Hyuk's enhanced hearing picked up the sound—the faint, almost inaudible shush of nylon on tile from the roof of the main house. Not one. Three. Professional, moving in sync.
The unseen enemy hadn't just reclaimed their asset. They had come for the source of their trouble.
Min-Hyuk moved. In one fluid motion, he grabbed Min-Ji, pulling her down behind the thick trunk of the pine. He pressed a small, flat device into her hand—a panic beacon linked directly to the Rainbow and Delta networks.
"Don't move. Don't make a sound," he breathed into her ear.
He then did something he had never done in her presence. He reached under his jacket and drew his sidearm—a modified, silenced pistol that looked like it belonged in a spec-ops armory. The lawyer was gone. The driver was gone. Only the weapon remained.
He looked at her, her face pale in the moonlight, her eyes wide but unflinching. He saw no panic there. Only a fierce, cold resolve. She was a queen, and this was her castle under siege.
"Rainbow, Delta," he whispered into his mic, his eyes scanning the dark rooftops. "We are compromised at the primary sanctuary. Hostile incursion in progress. Unidentified professional unit. Request immediate backup and hot extraction for the asset."
"ETA five minutes, Principal," Marco's voice came back, already sounding like he was in motion. "Hold the line."
Across the garden, a shadow detached itself from the wall, moving with a predator's silence.
Min-Hyuk raised his weapon, his heart rate a steady, deadly drum.
The case was not closed.
The war had just begun.
[End of Episode 9]
[Status: Critical / Under Direct Attack]
[Primary Threat: 'Spade' Unit (Elite Extraction/Mercenary Team)]
[Objective Changed: Survival & Evacuation]
[Park Min-Ji: Designated High-Value Asset (HVA) - Hostile Target]
[Kim Min-Hyuk: Protector Designation Activated]
[Delta & Rainbow: Converging on Hanok Villa]
[Next Episode: The Siege of the Hanok.]