YN
The house was loud.
Not with voices—
but with judgment.
YN moved quietly through the narrow hallway, shoulders slightly hunched, eyes lowered like she'd learned over the years. Every step was measured. Every breath careful.
In the living room, her stepmother sat comfortably, laughter spilling easily from her lips as her step-sister scrolled through her phone beside her.
"Where were you?" her stepmother asked sweetly.
Sweet voices were always the most dangerous.
"I— I was studying," YN replied softly.
Her step-sister snorted.
"Studying? Please. As if someone like you has a future worth studying for."
The words landed where they always did—deep, practiced, precise.
YN stayed silent.
Silence had become her safest skill.
"You should be grateful," her stepmother added, standing up slowly. "We took you in. Fed you. Gave you a roof."
YN nodded.
What she didn't say was that the roof leaked, the food came with conditions, and gratitude was demanded like rent.
Her step-sister stood, circling her like a predator.
"Do you know what people say?" she whispered cruelly.
"That adopted kids always come with bad blood."
YN flinched.
There it was.
The word they saved for when they wanted her to remember her place.
Adopted.
"You ruin the mood just by existing," her step-sister continued. "Mom says you're lucky we even let you stay."
Her stepmother smiled—approval, not denial.
That night, YN lay on her thin mattress, staring at the ceiling.
No lock on her door.
No privacy.
No voice.
Just one thought repeating over and over:
Anything would be better than this.
She didn't know how wrong—and right—that thought was.
Taehyung
Taehyung Kim didn't believe in coincidences.
From the top floor of the glass building, the city looked obedient. Small. Predictable.
Exactly how he liked it.
A man stood behind him, reporting calmly.
"South docks are secured. The Lee family deal is pending."
Taehyung's jaw tightened slightly.
"Lee family?" he repeated.
"Yes. Minor influence. Financially weak. They've been… negotiating marriage alliances."
Marriage.
A meaningless word used by desperate people to survive.
Taehyung turned, dark eyes sharp—not curious, not emotional. Just calculating.
"Background check?"
"Messy," the man replied. "Adopted daughter. No power. No protection."
Taehyung nodded once.
Disposable.
That was how the world worked.
You either had structure—or you were crushed by those who did.
He picked up his coat.
"Proceed," he said coldly. "I'll handle the rest."
As he walked out, one thought crossed his mind—not sympathy, not pity.
Just fact.
Weak environments create desperate people.
Desperate people are easy to control.
Somewhere in the city, a girl lay awake, wishing for escape.
And somewhere else, a man was about to become the structure her life would never escape again.