The door clicked open.
Light spilled into the hallway, slicing through the darkness that had wrapped around Han Seo-jin's guilt. She stumbled backward, her pulse roaring in her ears as Kang Joon-hyuk's gaze locked on her like a spotlight.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
His presence filled the narrow corridor tall, sharp, and quietly furious.The man who, hours ago, looked like marble carved in human form now looked like something alive and dangerous.
"What are you doing here?" His voice was soft, almost calm. That made it worse.
"I..." Her throat closed. "I heard something. I wasn't"
He took one slow step forward. "Rule four," he reminded, his tone a knife's edge. "Do you remember what it said?"
Her heart pounded. "Not to enter your study."
"And yet," he murmured, tilting his head slightly, "you're standing outside my study at one in the morning."
She swallowed hard, refusing to look away. "I wasn't going to go in."
"Then why," he said, taking another step, "is your hand on the doorknob?"
Seo-jin glanced down. Her fingers were still gripping the brass handle. She dropped it like it burned.
"I heard my father's name," she whispered. "You said something about him."
That stopped him.
The muscle in his jaw tightened, a flicker of emotion breaking through his perfect mask. "You misunderstood."
"Did I?" she shot back. "Because it sounded like you know something about him. About what happened to his company."
His silence was louder than any confession.
She took a step closer, searching his face. "What do you know, Joon-hyuk? Tell me."
For a moment, the air between them pulsed a mixture of defiance and something electric, unspoken.Then his voice dropped lower. "Go to your room."
"I'm not a child."
"Then stop acting like one," he snapped, his composure finally cracking. "You have no idea what you're walking into."
"Then tell me!" she shouted, her eyes glistening. "Because I've lost everything already. My father, my home, my future and now I'm trapped in your world with rules and lies! The least you can do is tell me why."
His breath hitched, just for a heartbeat. He turned away, gripping the edge of the doorframe like he needed something to hold onto.
"Your father…" he began, his voice roughened by something she couldn't name. "He wasn't who you think he was."
Her stomach dropped. "What are you talking about?"
But he shook his head, forcing the mask back into place. "This conversation is over."
He turned, stepping into the study but before he could close the door, the wind from the open balcony swept in and blew a stack of papers off his desk. One landed at her feet.
A photo.
Seo-jin bent to pick it up and froze.
It was a picture of her father. Standing beside Kang Joon-hyuk, smiling.Behind them the company logo of J&K Holdings.
Her world tilted.
She looked up, her voice trembling. "You knew my father."
Joon-hyuk's face went pale, the mask cracking fully this time. "Seo-jin, give that back."
But she clutched the photo to her chest. "You knew him! You lied to me!"
"Not lied," he said quietly, stepping closer. "Protected."
"From what?" she demanded.
He stopped an arm's length away, his eyes dark with something between guilt and sorrow. "From the truth. From what he did to me."
Her breath caught. "What he did to you?"
Joon-hyuk exhaled slowly, like he was about to cross a line he couldn't uncross.Then, softly "Your father destroyed my family."
The words hung heavy in the silence, sharper than any blade.
Seo-jin took a shaky step back. "That's not possible. He ..he wasn't"
"Look around you, Seo-jin," he said, voice low. "You think I brought you here out of charity? That this deal was just about debt?"
He looked at her really looked, like every secret in the world was trapped in his gaze.
"No," he whispered. "This was personal from the start."
She stared at him, trembling, unable to tell whether the man in front of her was her savior, her captor, or her father's ghost come to collect what was owed.
The thunder outside cracked again, rattling the windows.
And then the front door intercom buzzed.
Joon-hyuk's expression shifted from rage to alarm.
"Stay here," he ordered, storming toward the elevator.
But Seo-jin didn't listen. As soon as he disappeared, she turned toward the study its door still half open, its secrets waiting.
She stepped inside.