Ervin's mood immediately went dark.
His expression was tense, irritated. He floated above Cheon Seul-ah's body, staring down at the situation with growing frustration.
'Damn it. I should have been more careful.'
The truth was, he had relaxed too much. He hadn't planned everything properly. When Han Do-yun recruited him, he had been eager to bring Han Joon-seong into the fold. So he had given him jobs that targeted the worst people in the city—counterfeiters, violent thugs, dangerous criminals. It was all designed to please Han Joon-seong.
But Kang Dae-hyun wasn't like Han Do-yun. He wasn't trying to impress Cheon Seul-ah. He wasn't trying to win her over. He was just giving her a job because she asked for one. And since he was a criminal, and she was asking to work for a criminal organization, he gave her a criminal job.
And now Ervin was stuck.
He thought to himself: 'This mission is completely out of the question. There's no way I can do this.'
He considered pretending to fail the mission. But when he looked at the situation logically, he realized it wouldn't be that simple. This kind of job—they wouldn't just send one person. Cheon Seul-ah had shown herself to be agile and versatile, but not necessarily strong. So Kang Dae-hyun would probably offer some goons to accompany her.
He started to think: 'I have to refuse this mission. There's no way around it.'
But then he paused, considering the situation more carefully.
'No. I can't refuse. This guy—this insane bastard—he values competence. If I refuse, he might attack me right here and throw me to the ground. Because I'd be disappointing him.'
Cheon Seul-ah looked at Kang Dae-hyun. He was still in that same insane posture, that wild grin on his face. She looked back at the contract, maintaining her neutral expression.
But Ervin was starting to bite his lower lip, his internal tension rising.
'Damn it. I have to at least try to complete the mission.'
Back at the apartment, Han Joon-seong was reading some complicated business papers. He had been studying for hours, trying to raise his Intelligence. But now, he stood up.
He stood up from his chair and looked toward the door.
'I need to stop myself from succeeding.'
That was the plan. Cheon Seul-ah would go towards the Mirage Club like normal, but when she got there, Han Joon-seong, being the massive anomaly he is, would stop her. Most likely he would investigate who was the "monster" who beat up Cheon Seul-ah and all the goons that were following her. This would bring light to his existence for Kang Dae-hyun and maybe some other executives, but it was worth it, because he would notice Han Joon-seong was really something completely out of her control, and no matter how strong he expected Cheon Seul-ah to be, a dog still can't beat a rhino.
Of course, if after this mission failed the crazy bastard still decided to send other people to the Mirage Club, it was out of his control. He simply didn't want to do the crime himself.
He started walking toward the exit.
At the same time, Cheon Seul-ah lowered the contract and spoke.
"Alright. I accept the job."
Ervin thought to himself: 'I have to at least pretend I'm trying. Because I'm going to disappoint this guy no matter what. So I have to disappoint him by showing that I at least tried.'
Kang Dae-hyun let out a loud laugh. "Of course you accepted! You weren't going to refuse."
He gestured lazily. "You can go ahead and start the mission. I'll call some guys to go with you." He wrote down an address and slid it across the table. "Wait for them here."
Cheon Seul-ah took the address, stood up, and walked out of the office.
As she walked, she thought: 'I need to stall as much as possible. I have to give Han Joon-seong time to get there and maybe warn everyone to leave. But I can't stall so much that it becomes obvious.'
---
Seo Ji-hoo didn't like his father very much.
When he was younger, he had been close to him. They had a good relationship. But over time, that relationship had started to crumble. He didn't know the exact reasons, but his father had begun getting involved with bad people, bad influences. He started doing things to make more money, to get richer. And that obsession with money had changed him.
It had started when Seo Ji-hoo was around nine years old.
He remembered the night clearly. He was in the living room, standing in the doorway, watching his parents argue in the kitchen. Their voices were raised, angry, sharp. His mother was screaming, his father was shouting.
Then his father raised his hand and punched her in the face.
She fell to the ground. For a few moments, she didn't move. Seo Ji-hoo stood frozen, unable to process what he had just seen.
She eventually stood up, her lip bleeding, her eye already swelling. His father started pleading with her, trying to get her to stay. "No, no, wait. Please wait, honey, look, I am sorry, I— let's talk about this." But she walked away from him, through the living room.
She paused in front of Seo Ji-hoo, looked at him with sad eyes, and then turned and walked out the door.
She never came back.
His father stood in the kitchen, looking at the empty doorway. He looked at his son. And then he turned away and went to his study.
Seo Ji-hoo grew up alone after that. He had servants, maids, people who took care of him. But no real family. He still went through the motions, but he felt empty.
At some point, he discovered music. He picked up a guitar and started playing. It became his outlet, his way of expressing everything he couldn't say out loud. He practiced obsessively, poured himself into it. And he got good. Really good.
Good enough to start performing, and to start releasing some music every once in a while.
That was how he met Song Chae-won. She was a student at his school, and a wannabe digital influencer with a following on a platform called Vu-Live. She had a pretty face, a good voice, and a lot of followers. They started doing duets together—him playing guitar, her singing. People really liked them together. The views grew, the comments poured in. So they decided to release their first original song on streaming platforms.
It took off. Not huge, but big enough. They gained a small but dedicated fanbase. And they decided to take it seriously.
They spent the rest of their second year of high school and most of their third year producing music. By the time they were seniors, Song Chae-won's marketing contacts had started reaching out. She had sponsors, deals, a whole network. And she was part of a band now. So the marketing companies wanted to organize a showcase to boost her popularity—because popularity was a valuable resource, something you could buy and sell.
They needed a venue. And they found one that was surprisingly cheap: the Mirage Club.
Seo Ji-hoo recognized the name immediately. It was his father's club. He didn't want to go. But Song Chae-won had already booked it, already started planning. So he went along with it.
They spent months preparing. They even brought in another musician who also had some followers on Vu-live—Park Tae-oh, a drummer they'd found online. He was quiet, reliable, and they clicked instantly. Within weeks, he was part of the group.
Everything was set for the show to be perfect. A professional career in music was finally within reach.
Time passed and it finally came time to travel. They took the KTX to Busan, and finally saw the Mirage Club for the first time.
Seo Ji-hoo was nervous. He had been dreading this moment. He kept expecting to run into his father, to have some awkward, painful encounter. When he arrived, he felt like he was being watched. He dismissed it as paranoia.
The first day passed without incident.
At the end of the day, the band's agent—Song Chae-won's agent, really—called Seo Ji-hoo's father in for a meeting. Seo Ji-hoo sat in the room, watching his father walk in.
When they finally met, the meeting was... cold.
His father looked at him.
And then he looked away, like he didn't recognize him.
Seo Ji-hoo felt something inside him. He wasn't sad. He wasn't angry. He just felt... empty. Hollow. Like his heart was looking for something to feel that wasn't there.
They had their conversation, signed the contracts, and agreed on a date for the show: four days from now.
That night, Seo Ji-hoo lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about his father's cold eyes. He didn't sleep well.
They returned to the club the next day. They were doing their rehearsals.
The three of them were on stage, each doing their own thing.
Seo Ji-hoo was testing his guitar, fiddling with his earphones, running through a few riffs absentmindedly. He was distracted, his mind somewhere else.
Park Tae-oh was sitting near his drum kit, scrolling through his phone.
Song Chae-won was standing near the edge of the stage, her phone held up in front of her face. She was recording a video for her followers.
"Hey guys! So I'm here at the Mirage Club! It's so cool, right?" She tilted the phone, showing the stage behind her. "We're doing some training, practicing a little bit. Nobody wants to mess up a lyric on the big day, riiight? I'm so excited!"
She was using a cat filter, her face framed by cute pink ears and whiskers. Her voice was high-pitched and bubbly, the voice she used for her influencer persona.
"I'm here with my amazing bandmates!" She panned the phone to Park Tae-oh, who gave a half-hearted wave without looking up. Then she panned to Seo Ji-hoo, who didn't even notice, still lost in his thoughts.
"Oh, Ji-hoo's really in the zone right now!" she laughed. "Anyway, I just wanted to show you guys this fun little product I've been trying out! It's the new FreshBreath gum, and let me tell you..."
She launched into her sponsored spiel, her voice growing more animated with each word. Park Tae-oh let out a quiet sigh. He spoke to Seo Ji-hoo. "I hate her influencer voice. It's so different from her normal voice. So artificial."
Seo Ji-hoo gave no reply.
Park Tae-oh stood up and walked over to Seo Ji-hoo, tapping him on the shoulder.
Seo Ji-hoo blinked, coming back to reality. "Huh?"
"You okay?" Park Tae-oh asked quietly.
Seo Ji-hoo shrugged. "Yeah. I'm fine."
"You sure?"
Seo Ji-hoo looked away. "It's nothing."
Park Tae-oh didn't push. He just nodded and stood beside him, the two of them watching Song Chae-won film her video.
"Sometimes I wonder if she actually enjoys the music," Park Tae-oh said under his breath. "Or if she just likes the attention."
Seo Ji-hoo almost smiled. "Maybe a bit of both."
"She's good at it, though," Park Tae-oh admitted. "The singing, I mean."
"Yeah," Seo Ji-hoo agreed. "She is."
They stood there in silence, listening to Song Chae-won's exaggerated voice.
Finally, she finished her recording.
"Okay! That's a wrap!" she said, lowering her phone. "Ugh, my voice is tired now."
The club manager approached the stage, clapping his hands. "Alright everyone! Let's run through the full set! Lights, sound, everything!"
"Got it!" Song Chae-won said.
Seo Ji-hoo and Park Tae-oh took their positions. The manager called out instructions, and the lights dimmed. The stage came alive with color.
They started playing.
It was a love song, a slow, emotional ballad. They fell into the rhythm naturally, their instruments blending together.
But just as they were building toward the climax, a spotlight flickered on.
Everyone stopped.
At the entrance of the venue stood a man. He was dressed in rough clothes, his face weathered and hard. He looked like he had seen too much of the world's cruelty. His presence was immediately intimidating.
The manager turned to him, confused. "Hey! What the hell? What are you—"
Before he could finish, a security guard stumbled into the room. The manager was about to give the order to kick the stranger out when the security guard's legs gave out and he collapsed face-first onto the floor.
The room erupted into panic.
Then, more people started filing in. Fifteen of them. Rough men, clearly delinquents. They spread out across the room, surrounding the stage.
One of them stepped forward. He looked around the room with cold, calculating eyes.
"Where is the owner of this establishment?"