Jia's furious gaze locked onto Jae, her teeth clenched as defiance burned in her eyes. "Do whatever you want," she seethed, voice laced with venom. "But you can't force me to marry you without my consent."
A low, chilling laugh escaped him, dark amusement glinting in his stare. "Let's see about that."
With sudden detachment, he released her and straightened up smoothly before bending down to retrieve the discarded marriage papers and pen from the floor. While Jia's jaw throbbed angrily where his grip had dug into her skin moments before… but before she could react further, his fingers clamped around her elbow like a vise, yanking her off the bed with ruthless efficiency, taking her somewhere.
The room she was dragged into looked like a quaint library of sorts, lined with shelves of books and a cozy reading nook tucked in a corner. He dropped into a plush armchair at its center with a lazy grace, pulling her with him to sit between his legs.
Startled, Jia gasped as she tried to wriggle free but was quickly caught again, this time by arms that circled her stomach and held her firmly in place. With stubborn determination, she squirmed and struggled… until finally he lost patience, voice sharp and demanding. "Stop moving. You're pissing me off."
"Leave me, I can sit in the other chair myself, I don't need to sit on your lap."
"Did I ask you?"
"You don't need to, you can figure it out yourself–"
A sharp gasp escaped Jia's lips as Jae abruptly tilted her chin upward, forcing her head to rest against the solid wall of his chest. Their bodies aligned perfectly, her back molded against his torso, leaving no space between them.
His fingers trailed along her jawline with a deceptive gentleness before tightening their grip when she tried to shift away. The moment their eyes met, his pitch-black gaze boring into hers, a cold shiver raced down her spine.
She instinctively tried to lower her gaze, but he jerked her face back up with a rough motion that made her wince.
"Eyes on me," he commanded, voice laced with quiet menace as his hold grew firmer, daring another protest she couldn't make.
"You're looking very ugly from this angle." She retorted with a hint of challenge, trying to make him annoyed.
But instead of anger, a soft chuckle rumbled from his chest as a smirk curled his lips in response. "You don't have to lie, you know. You can admit I look downright breathtaking on this murky night."
Her scoff was immediate, and she rolled her eyes with annoyance.
Suddenly Jae flipped open his laptop with deliberate calmness which was kept on the table. Confusion flickered across her face, until the screen illuminated, revealing a live video call feed that immediately turned her blood to ice.
There, lying motionless on a bed, was Kang Mia, Jia's mother. Peaceful. Unaware. And standing beside her, gloved fingers wrapped around the barrel of a gun pressed directly to her temple, was a masked man in head-to-toe black.
Jia's hands shot forward before she could think, fingers clawing at the edges of the laptop screen as if she could reach through it and stop what she was seeing.
"STAY AWAY FROM HER OR ELSE I WILL BREAK YOUR HAND WITH WHICH YOU HAVE POINTED THE GUN AT HER!!" Her threat tore through the air like shattered glass, raw, primal, ferocious. Behind her, a sinful smirk plastered on Jae's face
"Calm down, my little slave. Your so called mother's life hangs by a thread... only until you sign this." His voice was a slow, taunting murmur as he placed the papers in front of her.
The words ignited something raw inside her. In a flash, she twisted around as much as she could, fingers knotting in his collar as she yanked him forward until their noses nearly brushed. Their breaths collided, hot and uneven, as Jia fought to keep the tremble from her voice.
"Let. Her. Go." Each word was ground out like shattered glass between them. "...Or I swear I'll carve my hatred straight through your heart."
A threat hissed through trembling lips while unshed tears burned behind her stare, refusing to fall.
And the smirk he gave was all-too sinister, then suddenly, steel and cold metal found her skin in a jarring kiss. And she froze at the gun being pulled and aimed between her eyes. But she didn't look away, didn't even bat an eye, still clutching his collar with a white-knuckled grip.
His gaze flickered in momentary surprise at her bravery. "Impressive!! You're not afraid of guns anymore." He said, pressuring the gun on her forehead, making her head move a little backward.
"That's when my fear was over when you forced me to shoot the gun with my own hands."
The way she clenched her jaw made the corners of his smirk twitch, knowing he'd touched a raw nerve.
"So... me forcing you ended up being beneficial for you, did it?"
Her jaw worked silently at that, refusing to answer, her gaze boring into his like two pools of liquid fury.
Suddenly he let the cold barrel of the gun drag slowly down her face, forehead to nose, nose to lips, lingering there for a cruel heartbeat before pressing it firmly beneath her chin.
"Let's play a little game," he murmured. "Multiple choice. Answer right... and maybe you'll get a chance to save your mother's life."
Her fingers twisted tighter in his collar as fury and dread warred inside her chest, but then a choked gasp escaped her as she glanced back at the laptop screen. The sight of that masked man's gun still pressed to her unconscious mother's temple sent hot tears streaking down her cheeks unchecked and she snapped her gaze back to him, staring at him as if in no time she would burn him alive.
"So the question is, which option saves the rest of the three options?"
She frowned, the weight of his words pressing down like a physical force. He watched her closely, savoring the turmoil in her eyes before continuing in that same taunting tone.
"Option one: Refuse to sign... and your mother dies tonight. A peaceful end, if you can call a bullet peaceful."
The gun slid into her hands, cold and heavy, as he released his collar from her grip and forced her fingers around it.
"Option two: Put this gun to your own temple instead. Kill yourself... so that you don't have to marry me and free from the shackles of being my slave. But even after your death, our first contract remains." His grip on her wrist tightened almost painfully as he leaned closer, breath hot against her ear. "And then dear Mama here donates every organ. No need to wait for natural causes of death."
"Option three." A slow, taunting smile. "Kill me. Shatter our contract with a bullet. Free from me. But tell me..." He moved swiftly, flipping their positions in one fluid motion until she was seated rigidly on the chair while he was standing on his feet, looming over her, bending at the waist to meet her eye-to-eye.
Then deliberately he guided her trembling hands upward until the gun's barrel pressed flush against his chest, right over the frantic hammering of his heart beneath.
"...Even if you pull this trigger," he whispered, watching tears streak down her face helplessly. "...can you ever be free after destroying an infamous mafia boss and the person you love?"
His voice dropped to a cold, calculated as he delivered the final option.
"Option four: Sign these papers. Everyone lives. Now answer, which option saves the other three options? Kill your deserving mother, kill yourself, kill me... or pick the easy way out and just sign."
The weight of his words crushed her. Her head dropped, shoulders shaking as violent sobs wracked through her body.
"Y-You're wrong..." Her voice shattered between ragged breaths. "She doesn't deserve to die... she's my mother. A-And you... you can't just kill her… you can't—!"
"I can." He growled. "And I will."
"Why do you always... make me helpless?" The words were raw, scraping past her throat like broken glass as she kept her head lowered, defeated. "You didn't leave me a single real choice... Even without your options, I was already trapped."
He let go of her hands abruptly, her arms dropping limply into her lap, the gun clattering against them lifelessly. Then he straightened to his full height in front of her, sliding both hands into his pockets with an air of cold detachment.
"Answer me before I reach five," he commanded, his voice chillingly calm. "Or this woman will sleep forever."
Then, deliberately, he began counting:
"One..."
Her pulse spiked, thundering in her ears as each number lanced through her like a blade.
"Two... Three..."
She could feel the seconds slipping away, the gun still pressed to her mother's head on-screen, her breath coming in shallow gasps.
"...Four."
And then—breaking. A raw scream tore from her throat before he could finish. "I'LL SIGN IT! I'LL MARRY YOU!"
Above her? His smirk was vicious.
His gaze remained locked onto her, unflinching, as he raised a hand, a single flick of his fingers, the silent command sharp as a blade.
On the laptop screen, the masked man obeyed instantly, the gun withdrew from her mother's temple in one fluid motion before the feed cut to black.
Then, fast as a striking viper, he snatched up the marriage papers and pen from the table and hurled them onto her lap where they landed atop the cold weight of the still-gripped gun.
"She's safe," he said flatly. "Now sign."
Her hands shook violently as she let go of metal for ink, fingers fumbling around polished metal now replaced by slender steel.
"I wanted to marry you ... .but not like this, where you don't love me, where you want to forcefully marry me by threatening to kill someone. Not when all I am to you is a slave."
Silence. He didn't react, just stood there, watching her with an unreadable expression. The seconds stretched unbearably before finally her hand moved weakly across the paper.
Signed.
The moment the ink dried, he snatched the papers away and tossed it onto the table without care. Then, in one fluid motion, he bent down until his face was level with hers, forcing her chin up with a single finger beneath it.
Her eyes remained downcast though… defeated, no fight left to meet his gaze as tears slipped free in silent streaks.
Cupping her face between his hands, he used both thumbs to brush away the tracks of fallen tears, the touch gentle yet utterly possessive.
"Now remember," he commanded, voice low with lethality, his eyes never leaving hers. " You're the wife of this venom….Understood?"
She looked at him through her long wet eye lashes, blinking them slowly, hearing the way he called her 'his wife'.
"I don't like to repeat my words,"
She quickly nodded.
"With words, Jia."
"Yes..I understand…" She murmured.
"Good girl." His fingers lingered as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, brushing away the last traces of her tears with deliberate slowness. "Now go get dressed properly, quickly. Tonight is our wedding night, after all."
For a second, she just stared at him, disbelief turning to revulsion in her widening eyes. Then action. She violently jerked his hands away before quickly standing on her feet after pushing him away with every ounce of strength left in her.
The gun clattered to the floor between them, the metallic clang cutting through the room like a gunshot itself.
He stumbled back half a step but caught himself almost instantly, looming over her once more as his expression darkened into something dangerously still.
"Be happy with the fact I married you," she spat, defiance burning in her glare. "Don't expect anything more from me."
His reaction was instant—blur-fast. One hand snapped to the back of her neck, his other arm a steel band around her waist, pulling her closer.
"You forgot your place." His voice was low, dangerously soft. "You're still my slave. Your duty? Obedience. And we both know what happens when you refuse… don't we?"
A cruel pause.
"...Now you're mine for life. Better learn how to act like it."
She didn't flinch, didn't look away.
"You know what?" Her voice was a seething whisper, trembling with barely contained rage. "The way you make me feel so helpless, I wish I could erase you. Wipe you from this world so that everyone including me feels like you never existed....But I know, I can't."
His grip on her turned to iron at her words.
"But if you could erase me," His head tilted, a predator studying prey. "I may vanish… but will be eternally grateful to you."
The raw sincerity in his voice made her flinch. Her expression twisted, rage warring with something unreadable.
He abruptly released her, stepping back.
Then came the command, cold and final, "Do as you're told. And come to my room. Don't keep me waiting."
He snatched the marriage certificate from the table without another glance and strode out...Leaving her frozen in place where he'd left her, muscles locked, air trapped in her lungs like a ghost of his grip still lingering on her skin.
Her eyes remained wide open, unblinking, as if defying the tears that pooled along her lashes. The muscles in her jaw tightened, fists clenched so hard her nails bit crescents into her palms, thinking that a special day in her life like marriage was shattered in a single night just because of his forceful behaviour.
"I never thought you'd become this," she whispered to the silence, voice fracturing under the weight of betrayal. "What happened to you... Cure?"
••••••
The door creaked slightly as she stepped inside, the sound swallowed by the heavy silence. Her gaze swept through the dim room, searching for him, but found nothing but the noise of rain and darkness that had engulfed the entire room.
Each step forward felt leaden, her feet barely making a sound against the floor. Then a sudden gust rushed through the open window, carrying with it a spray of icy rain that lashed against her skin. She shuddered involuntarily… her face still swollen from tears, eyes rimmed red like wounds, the clear visibility aftermath of crying a lot.
Small droplets were hitting the floor near the open window with quiet insistence ...drip... drip... drip… .Without thinking, she moved toward the open window as if drawn by some unspoken pull.
She stood motionless in front of the window, her slender frame forming a fragile barrier against the storm. The oversized mint-green t-shirt, and a black trouser clung to her skin as the rain soaked through, its thin fabric offering no protection. These weren't the kind of clothes one should wear on the wedding night but she didn't listen to him and wore the clothes of her own choice. Her dark brown hair, left loose and straight, hung heavy with moisture.
Fingers tightening around the cold window rail, she leaned forward slightly, tilting her face up toward the roiling sky. Rain struck her eyelids like tiny needles when she tried to keep them open... only to flinch and shut them tight against the onslaught.
The bitter smile curled on her lips as rain stung her skin, sharp counterpoint to the weight of each tear that had soaked her face.
"Are you weeping for me? I, who am exhausted from crying? Or... are you reminding me of the rain of my first meeting with him fourteen years ago… and also after fourteen years?"
<<<<<<>>>>>>
The downpour hammered against her small, sprinting frame, drenching her completely. Lost and terrified, eight-year-old Jia raced blindly through the woods, her tiny legs carrying her in frantic bursts of speed as panic drove her forward.
Every few steps, she whipped her head around to check behind her, but suddenly due to the lack of forward vision, she smashed into something solid. The impact sent her sprawling backward onto the rain-slicked mud with a heavy thud.
Eyes squeezed shut from the fall, then suddenly snapping open at the sound of a pained groan cutting through the storm.
As she opened her eyes, she realised, she splayed across someone's legs, a sturdy barrier against the ground. She twisted her head to the right, and there he was, eleven-year-old Jae glaring at her through his dripping hair.
He was perched awkwardly on the wet earth, using one arm to prop himself up while the other dangled at his side.
"You little girl! After all, why were you running looking back instead of where you were heading?" His voice was laced with mild irritation when he spoke, but even through his scolding, a touch of concern laced each word.
While with a slight open mouth, she blinked multiple times due to the raindrops falling in her eyes as she started staring at him with great amusement as if she had seen the ninth wonder.
"Whoa! You're looking very ugly from this angle."
His brows instantly furrowed. "Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?"
Instead of answering, she just flashed him a mischievous grin, then abruptly shut her eyes. His head tilted in confusion as he studied her still face.
"Hey, are you dead??" he blurted out, tone half-serious, half-teasing.
Slight irritation twisting her features at his ridiculous question.
"What? From which angle do I look dead? Actually raindrops were falling in my eyes, that's why I closed my eyes."
Suddenly, he groaned as he shifted awkwardly, trying to ease some of the strain on his legs underneath her weight. "Are you planning to sleep on my legs all night?"
Hearing him, she scrambled to her feet, then extended a helping hand to pull him up, an awkward smile pulling at her lips. "Sorry..." she murmured, backing away.
His annoyance hadn't faded, eyebrows still furrowed as he shot her a disapproving look.
"Why were you running?"
She blinked, then answered innocently, "I think I saw some wild animals in the forest... that's why I was scared."
His expression shifted to mild exasperation. "'You think? There are wild animals here, actual ones!" A beat of silence as he studied her. Then, rapid-fire questions spilled out, "What are you doing alone in this place? You should be home by now! Are you lost? Did you wander off?" His tone was a mix of concern and disbelief.
She just stared at him, wide-eyed and slightly overwhelmed by his sudden interrogation.
"Ugh! You're asking too much at once…who asks like this? Let me answer one thing first!" she huffed.
Then, just as he opened his mouth to retort, she cut him off with an exaggerated whack! of her palm slicing the air between them. "Forget all that! I'm Jia, and no, I didn't wander here like some lost puppy." She puffed up slightly, grinning. "I ran away from home for some time on purpose... and my parents probably think I'm safely asleep in bed right now!" A giggle burst free, proud, mischievous.
The laughter faded abruptly as she tilted her head. "Now you answer, what are you doing here? And who even are you?"
"I often take a walk around here at this time of the night."
"Really?? You live near this forest too?" Curious, her face lit up. "Is your home far from the city too?"
"Does it mean you also live near this forest?"
Hearing him, she nodded eagerly.
Then a sudden unsolved mystery lingered on her face as she mused, "I wonder why our home is in a place that far away from everything. It's so quiet here at this time... almost spooky."
"Which way is your house? My house is over there." He gestured to one side.
Answering him, she mirrored his action, pointing the opposite way. "Mine is over there."
His head whipped around to look in her direction. She did the same. Their gazes locked again, surprise flickering across both faces by realising they both live in the same place, just in opposite directions.
Then she shifted slightly under his surprised stare, fingers fidgeting with the side of her damp frock.
"Actually…my maternal grandparents lived near this Jitsaki forest of Osaka," she explained, voice quieter now. "They passed away two years ago. My family—my parents, my older sister and brother, we still visit sometimes... but really, I'm from Incheon, South Korea." A pause. Her gaze dropped to the muddy ground between them.
"Every house feels like a cage to me. Whether it's here or back home in Incheon." The words came out clipped, frustration simmering beneath them. "No one lets me go anywhere alone nor does it allow me to meet outsiders. If I step outside, there are always bodyguards hovering around like shadows." She kicked at a pebble absently. "So I often run away for a while by myself." A glance up at him, defiant yet fleeting. "I'll go back soon enough."
Silence hung between them then, he simply stared at her.
"Who just hands their secrets to a stranger like that?" His voice was flat, disapproving.
She shrugged, unfazed. "You don't feel like bad news."
He exhaled sharply, shaking his head.
"You didn't tell me your name!" Her eyes sparkling, a grin splitting her face.
A beat of silence. Then: "...Jay."
A sudden volcanic excitement erupted. She squealed, then launched herself at him with the force of a tiny hurricane. They toppled backward into the mud, she landed squarely on his stomach, beaming down at him while he gaped up in pure aghast.
"I have heard your name many times from my parents, they often talk about you in private." Hearing her words, he was silently staring at her with a frown but the frown quickly disappeared as he realised something.
"They could be talking about Jae, not me." He uttered.
"But you are Jae?"
"I'm not that guy your parents might be talking about."
Hearing him, she pondered something, placing a finger on her chin.
"Maybe you're right, there are probably tons of people named Jae," she mused, then suddenly clamped her tiny hands on either side of his face, squishing his cheeks. His brows knit in utter bewilderment as she barreled on.
"But guess what? I don't have any friends, and you—!" She gasped dramatically, eyes sparkling. "You look just like a Prince! Which means..." A beat. Then, with the conviction of a child declaring the sky pink, "I'm your princess. Yes—your princess! It's like I walked into Disney World and poof! Became a Disney princess!"
Just as suddenly as she'd grabbed him, she released his face, sprang to her feet, and started bouncing in place, giggling madly while raindrops splashed around her.
Meanwhile, he scrambled upright in record time... very clearly traumatized by the brief but alarming memory of her sitting on him.
"Where's your horse? Let me ride it quickly, please!!" She clung to his arm, shaking it violently, face lit up like a Christmas tree.
While his eyes widened in sheer aghast at her request. "You little girl...have you completely lost your mind?! What kind of nonsense are you on about?? And I don't have a horse!" He spluttered, exasperated, but still somehow managed to sound adorable.
"Please be my prince! Then I'll come to see you anytime, day, night, even if I have to sneak past my parents a hundred times! Pleeease?" Her voice dipped into the whiniest, most exaggerated plea possible as she continued to swing his arm back and forth like a pendulum.
"Agh!! Stop that!" He finally snapped, making her freeze mid swing.
"...Sooo... you will be my prince now... right?" Showing puppy-dog eyes. Wide. Shimmering. Lethal. She blinked slowly, the picture of hopeful desperation.
While he side-eyed her from his peripherals... refusing to fully face her, maintaining his attitude.
"Well…you really are beautiful and sweet... but there's absolutely nothing else inside that head of yours except air and nonsense." A dramatic pause. "...Still, I suppose you can be my princess, but only if you obey me in everything. Deal?"
Her face lit up like fireworks at midnight. She immediately released his arm, took a step back, then curtsied with all the grandeur of a fairytale royal.
"As you wish… my prince!" she chirped, grinning ear-to-ear.
Then—Achoo!—a sudden sneeze ruined her perfect moment, making him laugh at her.
"By the way, if i think, it's not in your control to come again and again in this forest full of wild animals. And look! Your immune system is also not very good, that's why you got cold so quickly." He uttered between his laughter. While she quickly stood properly, brushing her nose with her fingers while sniffing.
"Ugh…I'll find a way to come here, don't you worr—Achoo!" She wiped her nose stubbornly. "And I'm already soaked—Achoo!—what's the worst that could happen to me instead of a cold?"
He smirked, puffing out his chest slightly. "But look at me. Not even a sniffle."
She squinted at him through rain-clumped lashes. "...If you're not sick yet—ACHOO!—then you're not even human!"
Hearing her words, he chuckled.
"Now how will you explain catching a cold when you get home?"
She grinned defiantly. "I'll handle it myself. You don't need to worry."
Then, again a sneeze.
He finally turned on his princely concern, frowning at her miserable state.
"You really should go home. You've got a nasty cold," he told her, voice soft and sincere, while she nodded.
"But I have to curse you now for laughing at me—Achoo!—so you catch a cold too!" she declared, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand, glaring at him through watery eyes.
Hearing her, his laughter erupted, rich and uncontainable, cutting through the howl of wind and drumming rain. And there she stood... sniffling, sneezing, yet utterly delighted by the sound of his amusement.
<<<<<<>>>>>>
"You can see, right? Look how much he has changed." Facing the sky with eyes closed, Jia spoke quietly into the rain, wearing a sad smile. "He doesn't love me anymore...," Her voice cracked slightly. "He hates me, he just wants to ruin me, but–"
She paused for a while before continuing, the words rushing out in a pained whisper. "But I don't know why I feel like his words don't tell what he really wants to tell…..and l…. I've always loved him. Ever since we were kids. Two years ago I tried to find him even after we parted ways, but I couldn't find him nor could I do anything. I was afraid that fourteen years ago my leaving him forever would make him hate me. And that's exactly what happened, now he hates me." Saying this, she let out a deep sigh before opening her eyes and turning around.
Her eyes snapped to the bed, voice barely above a whisper. "I never thought... my marriage would happen like this, in these circumstances. Him threatening to kill my mother..." The words dissolved into nothingness.
Then—movement. A blur of rage and desperation as Jae materialized from nowhere, hands clamping around her waist. She gasped as he flung her onto the mattress with terrifying ease, pinning her beneath him before she could even process it.
His face hovered inches from hers, eyes burning with something unreadable yet deep, fury? longing? both? She stiffened beneath him, caught between shock and that traitorous flutter in her chest until anxiousness yet annoyance crested over fear as she noticed him a little different.
She noted the scent of alcohol on his breath. Did he drink alcohol to make his mood so that he could actually do something with her tonight? Because she knew his senses were still intact for the most part even in this state. So him being drunk or not was the same. She moved her face away to the side when his hot alcoholic breath fell on her face.
"Go away. I'll vomit." Her words sliced through the tension—sharp, disgusted, trying to show him her displeasure.
But to her shock, he obeyed instantly, rolling off her and collapsing beside her on the bed.
She turned her head slowly, and saw his gaze was fixed blankly on the ceiling. Studying his features, she noticed the shadow of something broken, something sad in his eyes.
A beat of silence. Then another.
But she couldn't afford to soften. Not now. Pushing past the knot in her chest, avoiding his sudden behaviour, she moved to get up.
But as soon as she moved, he held her wrist and pulled her towards himself with a jerk due to which, she landed on his chest. He quickly wrapped his arms around her petite figure tightly, leaving no chance for her to get up again.
"Leave me!" She demanded, struggling in his tight grip.
"I thought I'd lost you again." His voice was soft, raw with an edge of hurt that left her reeling.
Heart racing, she stilled in his arms as he spoke, feeling his chest rise and fall under her cheek—the tension and restlessness in his body, betraying his deep breathing.
"Stay!"
His plea, just one word, sent a tremor through her.
Anger should have flared at his cruel actions. Resistance should have sharpened her limbs. Instead, her body went slack against his, heartbeat erratic as something unfamiliar uncoiled in her chest.
Fourteen years since she met him, this was the first time that she saw him like this, fragile in a way she didn't recognize.
She didn't fight when his grip loosened slightly. Didn't speak as silence pooled between them like spilled ink. Just let herself sink into the absurdity of it all, her head resting on his chest in some twisted parody of intimacy while rain lashed against the windows.
In a strange twist of fate, she never expected this, her rainy night was going to be spent with him like this, with so many questions and emotions about him…
In silence.
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