[ Monday, 5:30 PM - Hannam The Hill, Underground Garage ]
The Maybach glided into the private underground parking lot of Hannam The Hill like a silent predator returning to its den.
Here, the air didn't smell of exhaust or cheap street food; it smelled of polished concrete, filtered ventilation, and expensive car wax. The garage was filled with Ferraris, Bentleys, and G-Wagons—the chariots of Korea's top 0.1%.
The car came to a smooth halt in the dedicated bay for the Penthouse Unit.
Chief Jung, the former Special Forces major hired by Apex Security, turned off the engine. His eyes lingered on Jin-woo's bruised face in the rearview mirror for a fraction of a second—professional enough not to stare, but sharp enough to assess the damage.
"We have arrived, Chairman," Chief Jung said, his voice deep and gravelly. "Shall I call the medical team to the unit?"
"No," Jin-woo said. His voice was steady, but as he moved to unbuckle his seatbelt, a jolt of fire shot through his ribs. He suppressed a groan, gritting his teeth until his jaw ached. "Just stand guard at the elevator. No one comes up without my direct permission. Not even delivery."
"Understood, sir."
The door opened. Jin-woo stepped out.
Lee Ji-eun was instantly at his side. She hovered, her hands fluttering near his elbow, afraid to touch him but unwilling to step away. The panic from the car ride had faded into a sharp, vibrating anxiety.
"Lean on me," she whispered fiercely.
"I can walk," Jin-woo muttered, straightening his ruined blazer. He checked his reflection in the car window. He looked like he had been in a brawl—which he had. "If Eun-ji sees me limping, she'll panic. She thinks I'm a student, not a gangster."
"You look like both right now," Ji-eun hissed, pressing the button for the private elevator.
The doors slid open with a soft chime. They stepped into the mirrored box.
As the elevator rose, Jin-woo caught his full reflection under the bright LED lights. It was worse than he thought. His white shirt was stained with sweat and a smear of someone else's blood on the collar. His tie was gone. His knuckles were swollen and turning a dark, angry purple. There was a growing bruise on his jaw where he had taken a glancing blow during the takedown.
"God," Ji-eun breathed, seeing the reflection too. She reached into her purse and pulled out a compact mirror and a concealer stick. "Hold still."
"What are you doing?"
"Fixing your face," she ordered. She stood on her tiptoes, invading his personal space. Her face was inches from his as she dabbed the makeup onto his jawline with focused intensity. "I can't hide the swelling, but I can hide the color. Tell her you fell during gym class. Tell her you got hit by a volleyball. Anything."
Jin-woo closed his eyes, letting her work. Her scent—expensive vanilla and cold rain—filled the small space. It was calming. For a moment, the throbbing pain in his ribs receded, replaced by the warmth of her breath against his chin.
"Done," she said, stepping back quickly as the elevator dinged, her cheeks slightly pink. "Keep your left side turned away from her. And change your shirt immediately."
[ Meanwhile - The Hansung Estate, Pyeongchang-dong ]
While Jin-woo was ascending to his sanctuary, a storm was brewing on the other side of the city.
The study of Chairman Lee, head of Hansung Textiles, was a room designed to intimidate. Dark mahogany walls, antique Joseon pottery, and the heavy scent of sandalwood incense.
Chairman Lee sat behind his desk, staring at a single sheet of paper.
It was a bank notification.
[ Debt Settlement Confirmation: 4.2 Billion KRW PAID IN FULL. ]
"She paid it," Chairman Lee whispered. His voice wasn't happy; it was cold. "My daughter, who was begging me for pocket money two weeks ago, just wired 4.2 Billion Won in cash."
He looked up at the man standing in the shadows of the room. It was Mr. Park, the Head of Corporate Intelligence for Hansung Group. A man who specialized in digging up dirt.
"Where did the money come from?" Chairman Lee demanded.
"A corporate account, sir," Mr. Park replied smoothly. "An entity called 'Apex Investment'. It was registered recently. The CEO is listed as... Lee Ji-eun."
Chairman Lee laughed. It was a harsh, barking sound.
"Ji-eun? CEO? Don't make me laugh. She has no capital. She has no connections. Someone gave her that money."
He stood up, walking to the window that overlooked his manicured gardens.
"She broke the engagement with Myung-il Construction. She paid the family debt to cut ties with me. And now she is living in a Penthouse in Hannam-dong."
Chairman Lee's eyes narrowed.
"She has a sponsor. Someone powerful. Someone who is using her to attack Myung-il Construction."
"Shall I investigate Apex Investment?" Mr. Park asked.
"No," Chairman Lee said. "Shell companies are easy to fake. Investigate her. I want to know who she meets. I want to know who she talks to. Especially that high school boy she brought to the dinner."
"The student? Kang Jin-woo?"
"He's the weak link," Chairman Lee sneered. "He's probably just a pretty face she keeps around to annoy me, or maybe he's the son of her backer. Put a team on them. 24-hour surveillance."
He turned back to the desk, his face set in stone.
"Find out who is holding my daughter's leash, Mr. Park. And when you find him... bring him to me."
[ The Penthouse - The Living Room ]
The elevator doors opened directly into the living room of the "Glass Castle."
The late afternoon sun flooded the space through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting long golden shadows across the white marble floors. It was quiet, peaceful, and smelled of lavender—Eun-ji's favorite diffuser scent.
Jin-woo stepped inside, forcing his posture to relax. He unlocked the tension in his shoulders, transforming from the Predator back into the Brother.
"Oppa?"
A voice called out from the kitchen island.
Kang Eun-ji was sitting in her electric wheelchair, trying to reach a glass on the counter. She was wearing her oversized penguin pajamas and the knitted beanie that covered her healing surgical scars.
She spun the chair around. Her eyes lit up.
"You're home!"
She zipped across the room, the electric motor whirring.
Jin-woo forced a bright smile onto his face. He pushed the pain in his ribs into a mental box and locked it tight.
"I'm home, Princess," he said, opening his arms.
Eun-ji crashed into his legs for a hug.
Flash of Pain.
It felt like a hot knife twisting in his side. Jin-woo flinched, his breath hitching for a microsecond.
[ SYSTEM WARNING: Host has 2 fractured ribs. Impact detected. Pain suppression failing. ]
Jin-woo gritted his teeth and patted her head gently. "Careful, careful. You'll run me over."
Eun-ji pulled back, looking up at him. She narrowed her eyes. She sniffed the air like a little detective.
"You smell like... dirt," she accused, wrinkling her nose. "And... iron?"
She looked at his hand. Jin-woo quickly shoved his bruised knuckles into his pocket.
"Gym class," Jin-woo lied smoothly. "We played rugby. I got tackled into the mud. It was humiliating."
"Rugby?" Eun-ji looked skeptical. "But you hate running. You say it's 'inefficient use of calories'. Why would you play rugby?"
"I had to pass the grade," Jin-woo said, stepping around her toward the hallway. "Unnie is here too. Ask her."
Eun-ji looked at Ji-eun, who was standing by the elevator, clutching her purse a little too tightly.
"It's true," Ji-eun lied, her voice steady but a little too high. "I saw him. He tripped over his own feet. It was very... uncool."
Eun-ji giggled. "Oppa is a klutz."
Jin-woo shot Ji-eun a grateful look, then hurried toward his bedroom. "I'm going to shower. Order dinner. Anything but pizza. I want meat."
[ 8:00 PM - The Dining Room ]
An hour later, the atmosphere was transformed.
Jin-woo had showered and changed into a soft, oversized grey cashmere sweater that hid his bandages and softened his sharp silhouette. Ji-eun had changed into comfortable lounge wear she kept at the penthouse.
They sat around the massive oak table eating Bossam (boiled pork wraps) that had been delivered from a Michelin-star restaurant.
Eun-ji was in high spirits, oblivious to the violence Jin-woo had faced or the spies her father was deploying.
"And then the nurse said I can maybe start art therapy next week!" she chirped, stuffing a lettuce wrap into her mouth. "But... I don't want to just paint in the room."
She put her chopsticks down and looked at Jin-woo with big, pleading eyes.
"Oppa?"
"Hm?" Jin-woo asked, cutting a piece of pork.
"Can we go out?"
The table went quiet.
"Out?" Jin-woo asked. "You mean to the garden?"
"No," Eun-ji shook her head. "I mean out out. Like... to the aquarium? Or Lotte World? I saw on TV they have a new parade."
She looked down at her hands.
"I've been in the hospital for a year. And now I'm in this big house... which is amazing! But... I want to see people. I want to eat cotton candy."
Jin-woo looked at her. He saw the loneliness behind the smile. He had been so focused on keeping her alive and buying her safety that he forgot she was just a ten-year-old girl who missed the world.
He looked at Ji-eun.
Ji-eun smiled softly. "Dr. Schmidt said her white blood cell count is up. If she wears a mask and we take a private car... it should be okay."
Jin-woo looked back at his sister.
"Okay," he said.
"Really?" Eun-ji gasped.
"Really. But not this week. I have... exams," Jin-woo lied. (He had a gang to destroy). "Next weekend. We'll go wherever you want. We'll buy the whole cotton candy stand."
"Yay!" Eun-ji cheered, clapping her hands. "It's a date! A family date!"
Ji-eun froze at the word "family," looking down at her plate to hide a sudden blush. Jin-woo just smiled, but inside, his resolve hardened.
Next weekend, he promised himself. By next weekend, the threats will be gone. I will make this city safe for her.
[ 11:30 PM - The Terrace ]
Eun-ji was asleep. The nurse had arrived for the night shift.
Jin-woo stepped out onto the sprawling terrace. The wind was colder now, biting through his cashmere sweater, but the cold helped numb the throbbing in his hand. Below him, the Han River flowed like a ribbon of black oil.
He heard the sliding door open.
Ji-eun walked out, holding two glasses of whiskey. She handed one to him.
"Painkillers and alcohol?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Not a doctor-recommended mix."
"It's efficient," Jin-woo said, taking the glass. "Thanks."
They stood in silence for a moment.
"My father is going to come for us," Ji-eun said suddenly. She didn't look at him; she looked at the city lights. "I know him. He's quiet right now because he's confused. But once he figures out I'm not crawling back... he'll send people."
"Let him come," Jin-woo said. "He thinks he's hunting a rabbit. He doesn't know he's walking into a bear trap."
"He's dangerous, Jin. He has connections with the prosecutors."
"We'll deal with him later," Jin-woo said, dismissing the threat of the Chairman for now. "First, we have to deal with the dog that actually bit me."
Ji-eun stiffened. "The Seven Star Gang."
"I looked into them," Jin-woo said. "Chairman Jang owns 'Club V' in Gangnam. It's his cash cow. Drugs, prostitution, gambling—he funnels all the dirty money through the club's VIP rooms to wash it."
"So? We can't fight a gang, Jin. You proved that today. Next time they'll bring guns, not batons."
"I'm not going to fight them," Jin-woo smiled. It was the smile of the Predator. "I'm going to evict them."
"Evict?"
"The building that houses Club V is owned by a shell company called 'Blue Sky Real Estate'. They are over-leveraged. They owe 40 Billion won to the Savings Bank, and they are three months behind on payments."
Jin-woo leaned over the railing.
[ Truth Eye: RECALL MODE ][ Target: Club V Building ][ Weakness: Commercial Lease Agreement Clause 14-B. ][ Clause: 'If the building ownership changes, the new owner may terminate any commercial lease associated with criminal activity immediately without penalty.' ]
"Tomorrow morning," Jin-woo said, "Apex Investment will buy the debt from the Savings Bank. We will foreclose on the building. We will become the landlords."
Ji-eun's eyes widened as she realized the plan. "And then we invoke Clause 14-B."
"Exactly," Jin-woo said, crushing the ice in his glass. "We don't send thugs. We send the police to 'secure our property' during the eviction. We hand Chairman Jang over to the cops on a silver platter, and we take his building."
He looked at Ji-eun.
"He broke my ribs. I'm going to break his entire empire."
Ji-eun stared at him. The fear from the afternoon was gone, replaced by a fierce, burning resolve. She clinked her glass against his.
"To evictions," she said.
"To evictions," Jin-woo replied.