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Noah unbuttoned the top three buttons of his black shirt while calling Yunah. The line rang, echoing in the heavy silence of his office until a soft, sleepy voice answered.
"Hello?"
Noah leaned against the mahogany table, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips as he scoffed softly at the sound of her. His eyes sparkled in the dim, amber light of the room.
"Ah... so this is the client," Noah spoke. He kept his voice low, a velvety baritone that was miles away from his "innocent student" persona. "I heard from my right hand man that you called to hire me for a... delicate matter."
On the other end, Yunah's sleepiness vanished instantly. She sat bolt upright, her heart hammering against her ribs. She glanced at the screen—it wasn't the number she had dialed before. "Hello... Mr..." She began to stammer, the weight of who she was speaking to finally hitting her.
Noah let out a soft, melodic chuckle. To him, her nervousness wasn't pathetic; it was adorable. It took everything in him not to drop the act right then and there.
"Miss, let's start by taking a breath," Noah said, his voice dropping into a soothing, almost hypnotic calm. "Stop being nervous. Relax. Think of me as a... friend you haven't met yet. Tell me exactly what you want me to do."
The warmth in his voice worked like a charm. Yunah felt the tension drain out of her shoulders. There was something familiar about the cadence of his speech—a strange, soul-deep warmth that reminded her of Noah, though the tone was deeper, more commanding.
"I... I want you to threaten someone," Yunah said, her voice growing steadier. "I need them to stay away from me and my family. But please... you have to promise not to hurt them. Just a warning. Nothing more."
The soft sparkle in Noah's eyes died instantly. The warmth evaporated, replaced by a cold, obsidian darkness. His jaw tightened as he realized she was still trying to be merciful to the vultures circling her home.
"You really are a rare kind of soul, Miss," Noah said. The words were a compliment, but they came out with a dangerous, jagged edge.
Yunah flinched at the sudden shift in atmosphere. "You won't... you won't hurt them, right? Because if that's your way of working, I can't hire you. I won't have blood on my hands."
Noah chuckled again, but this time it was darker, more complex. "Don't worry. We have a very strict policy: we only do what the client explicitly requests. If you want them terrified but breathing, then that is exactly what you will get."
Yunah let out a long, relieved sigh. The fear vanished, replaced by a sense of security she hadn't felt all night. "Oh... thank goodness. Then it's a deal. So... tell me. What is your price?"
"Well..." Noah stepped away from his desk, moving toward the floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the city's dark skyline. "I don't take payment upfront. I only collect once the work is finished to my client's satisfaction. So, tell me... who exactly am I removing from your life, Miss?"
"I don't know who they are or who they work for," Yunah admitted, her voice dropping an octave. "But their leader left two of his men standing guard outside my house. You can... you can ask them yourself."
"What?!" Noah's body went rigid. The calm, professional facade shattered instantly. "They're outside your house? Right now?"
"Y-yes," Yunah stammered, startled by the sudden sharp edge in his voice. "They've been there since they left."
Noah's fist clenched so hard his knuckles turned white. A vein pulsed in his neck as a wave of pure, murderous adrenaline hit him. Those insects were breathing the same air as her. "Don't worry," he said, his voice dropping into a low, terrifyingly confident hum. "I'll make them vanish before the sun even thinks about rising. When you wake up, your street will be empty. You have my word."
"Can you really do that?" Yunah asked, a mix of curiosity and hope flickering in her voice.
"Of course." Noah sat back in his chair, a dark pride swelling in his chest. "Consider the work already done."
For the first time all night, Yunah let out a small, relieved breath. A tiny smile touched her lips. "Then I'm looking forward to it, Mr...?"
"Jay," Noah said smoothly.
"Huh?" Yunah let out a confused sound over the line.
"Call me Jay," Noah said, a sly, boyish smile tugging at his mouth as he idly spun his chair.
"Oh... okay. Then Mr.Jay, I'll make sure you're well-compensated if you solve this for me. I'll give you a big amount."
"I'll hold you to that," Noah chuckled softly. "And what about you? What name should I put in my ledger?" He asked it casually, fully expecting her to give a fake name so he could tease her about it later.
"Yunah," she said plainly.
Noah nearly choked on his own saliva. He coughed, his eyes widening in disbelief. Then, he burst into a genuine, rolling laugh that he couldn't suppress.
"You... you actually gave your real name," he managed to say through his laughter. "You really are too innocent for this world, miss Yunah."
Yunah stayed silent for a long beat, her face flushing with embarrassment on the other end. "How did you even know that's my real name?" she snapped.
"Because I'm tracking this call, Miss Yunah. You're using your daily personal phone to call a mafia organization," Noah said, his laugh finally dying down into a fond, amused hum. "I was waiting for a fake name, a codename... anything. But you just handed it over."
"Don't make fun of me!" she huffed, her annoyance flaring. "It's not like I call thugs every day."
The word thugs hit Noah like a splash of cold water."Wah! That hurts. We aren't thugs, Miss Yunah. We're much stronger—and significantly sharper—than the trash outside your house."
"Thugs, mafias... you just have different names for the same thing," Yunah muttered under her breath, not realizing the line was clear enough for him to hear.
Noah raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. "What was that? Want to say that a little louder?"
"Nothing! I just said please hurry up and get those men away from my house!"
Noah's expression softened, his gaze turning serious, "I'm going. But before I do, listen to me. If you ever—and I mean ever—have to call a gang again, use a burner phone. Don't use your real name. Understand? I'm telling you this for your own good."
"Okay... I'll keep that in mind," she whispered, feeling like she was being scolded by a protective older brother.
"And if you need anything else—anything at all—call this number. Not the one you dialed before. That line is going dead."
"Okay," Yunah nodded to the empty room.
"Then, I'll get to work. Stay inside, lock the doors, and wait for my call." Noah stood up, the "Jay" persona fading as the Shadowveil leader took over. He signaled to Ashish and his men, his eyes turning to cold flint. He was ready to clear her path.
"Okay," Yunah whispered, hanging up.
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Exactly thirty minutes later, the atmosphere changed. A sleek, black SUV glided to a halt in front of Yunah's gate, its engine a low, predatory hum. As if on cue, every streetlight in the locality flickered once and died. The entire neighborhood plunged into a suffocating, unnatural darkness. Inside the compound, the two Eagle's Claw sentries—who had been lounging and drinking—snapped to attention.
The sudden silence was more terrifying than any noise. In her bedroom, Yunah sat frozen in the shadows. When she heard the heavy, metallic groan of the front gate being forced open, her heart hammered against her ribs. She crept toward the window, pulling the curtain back just a fraction of an inch. Down in the courtyard, she saw him—a tall, dark figure standing motionless amidst the gloom.
The two sentries lunged at the intruder with a guttural shout, but they never even reached him. Two shadows materialized from the darkness beside the leader; with surgical, terrifying precision, they neutralized the sentries in seconds. No gunshots. No screaming. Just the dull thud of bodies hitting the dirt before they were dragged out of the gate and into the abyss of the SUV.
The central figure—Noah—didn't move. He stood in the center of the yard, his head tilting back as his gaze locked onto the exact window where Yunah was hiding. He didn't need light to find her; he could feel her presence.
His phone vibrated in his hand. He dialed.
Yunah watched the figure lift a phone to his ear. When her own device lit up the dark room, she answered immediately. She didn't feel the paralyzing fear she had felt with the man in the yellow suit. Instead, a strange, heavy sense of relief washed over her.
"Hello?" she whispered, her eyes never leaving the silhouette below.
"You can sleep now," Noah said. His voice was low, vibrating with a protective intensity that felt like a physical touch. "They aren't coming back."
A thick, charged silence stretched between them. Through the glass and the darkness, their eyes met. Noah stared up at her silhouette as if he were a devotee looking at a goddess in a shrine—worshipping the very girl he was terrifying the world to protect.
He stayed there long after she pulled the curtains shut, a lone guardian in a world he had turned dark just to keep her safe.