The Safe House
Haewon's backup apartment smelled like lemons and betrayal. I trailed water across the marble foyer, my soaked sneakers squeaking with every step.
"This is where you bring your dates?" I asked, eyeing the panoramic view of Seoul through floor-to-ceiling windows.
She tossed me a towel. "This is where I hide from my father's surveillance. Shower. You smell like a wet dog."
The bathroom had heated floors. Of course it did.
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The Files
By midnight, we'd turned her dining table into a war room. Laptops, tablets, and three empty energy drink cans surrounded the prize: Yoon Minho's private server files.
"Project Phoenix," Haewon read aloud, her face illuminated by the screen. "Safety inspection overrides... bribery records... this is the payment to your mother."
The document burned into my retinas:
₩800,000,000
For: Kim Jaehyun wrongful death settlement (confidential)
Recipient: Lee Soomin (spouse)*
Eight hundred million won. That's what my father's silence cost.
I shoved away from the table. "I need air."
---
The Balcony Confession
Haewon found me gripping the railing, the city lights blurring below.
"I was six when he died," I said. "Mom told me it was a car crash. She cried every anniversary but never explained why."
A warm weight settled on my shoulder—her hand, tentative but steady.
"I was there that day," she whispered. "At the funeral. You... you pushed me into the mud when I tried to give you flowers."
The memory surfaced like a bruise: A tiny girl in black, her white lilies trampled, wailing as bodyguards carried her away.*
"Shit." I turned to face her. "That was you?"
Her lips quirked. "You had a hell of a right hook for an eight-year-old."
---
The Plan
We worked until dawn.
Haewon's fingers flew across the keyboard as she bypassed firewalls. "I'm routing everything through offshore servers. Once we hit send, it goes to every major news outlet simultaneously."
I organized the most damning files:
1. Falsified safety reports
2. Bribed inspectors
3. The hush money ledger
"Your father will go to prison," I said.
She didn't hesitate. "Good."
---
The Interruption
The doorbell rang at 4:17 AM.
Haewon froze. "No one knows this place."
The security monitor flickered to life—revealing Minjae, pale and shaking, flanked by Joonho's bodyguards.
Joonho's voice crackled through the intercom: "Such a touching reunion! Let's chat about your little project."
One guard pressed a gun to Minjae's ribs.
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The Choice
Haewon's hand hovered over the delete key. "We can still walk away."
I looked at Minjae's terrified face. At the files that could destroy her family. At the girl who'd risked everything to help me.
Then I hit send.
The files vanished from the screen—and appeared on every major news server in Korea.
Joonho's scream of rage was still echoing when the door exploded inward.
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Next Chapter Teaser:
- Media Firestorm ("Yoon Corp Collapse" trends worldwide)
- Hostage Situation (Minjae's desperate gamble)
- The Escape (Blood on designer floors)