The sky over the main police headquarters was an iron-grey slab, thick with winter clouds that felt heavy enough to crush the city beneath them. Junseo stepped out of his car, breath turning white in the morning air. But the cold wasn't what made his hands tremble.
It was the sight of the crowd gathered outside the police building—reporters shoving microphones into each other, camera flashes exploding like lightning, officers trying to hold the line.
At the center of that chaos…
Myun Hyuk.
Handcuffed.
Surrounded by detectives.
Expression cold, sharp, unfazed—like a man who still believed the world bowed beneath his feet.
Junseo's breath hitched.
They actually took him.
He moved closer, heart thundering, catching bits of the reporters' screams:
"CEO Myun-Hyuk, is it true you ordered the violence against Jao?"
"Is the leaked video authentic?"
"Did you manipulate your former wife psychologically?"
"What about the involvement with Seonghee? With Star Inkang's case?"
The detectives pushed Myun-Hyuk forward, but he didn't resist. He walked with a chilling calmness, chin lifted as though this was beneath him—a temporary annoyance, nothing more.
Junseo clenched his jaw.
This man… this monster… has finally been cornered.
But the officers' conversation nearby made Junseo freeze.
"—There's more than we thought."
"Under multiple names… secret accounts… threats… extortion."
"And the ex-wife's psychological collapse? It wasn't an accident."
Junseo swallowed, throat closing.
He shouldn't be surprised.
He shouldn't feel shaken.
But hearing the truth laid out like this—it still scraped something raw inside him.
And then his eyes fell on Ajin.
She stood at a distance, guarded by officers, wrapped in a heavy coat.
Not crying.
Not panicking.
Expression unreadable—cold, almost detached—as if she were observing someone else's life fall apart, not her own.
Reporters swarmed her, but she barely blinked.
Junseo's heart twisted painfully.
What are you turning into, Ajin…?
An officer approached her, speaking quietly, then guided her inside the building.
But before she disappeared through the doors, Ajin turned…
and her eyes met Junseo's for a brief, electric moment.
There was no warmth in them.
No fear.
No grief.
Only a silent message:
"This isn't over."
Junseo let out a slow exhale.
His stomach dropped with dread.
Whatever is coming next… it won't just destroy Myun-Hyuk.
It will destroy everyone tied to him… and to her.
He looked back toward the crowd, toward the police cars, toward the building swallowing all their secrets.
And for the first time since everything began…
Junseo felt afraid.
Not of Myun-Hyuk.
Not of the police investigation.
But of Ajin,
and the unstoppable path she had chosen.
---
Junseo stood near the cordoned-off entry of the station, the sharp scent of rain and asphalt filling his lungs as several police cars pulled in. He had come only because he sensed something was wrong—because everything around Ajin, Myun Hyuk, and even Jao's death had spiraled into something suffocatingly dark.
But he hadn't expected this.
The doors of the investigative building swung open as a line of officers escorted Myun Hyuk out. He wasn't in handcuffs, but his wrists were gripped firmly by two detectives on either side. His expression was unreadable—calm, elegant, almost arrogant—but Junseo could see the faint twitch in the man's jaw.
A sign of fear.
A sign of everything collapsing.
Junseo stepped closer, heart sinking.
"Why are you taking him?" he demanded.
One of the detectives turned, flipping a folder open.
"We've uncovered multiple irregularities in Mr. Myun Hyuk's previous cases. His ex-wife's medical reports, financial manipulation, suspicious property transfers… and the connection to Star Inkang's suicide."
Inkang's name stabbed into Junseo's memory like a cold knife.
Junseo whispered, "Inkang… what does he have to do with Hyuk?"
"He was pressured," another officer said. "Indirectly. We traced several calls between him and Mrs. Ajin before the suicide. And Myun Hyuk's name was brought up repeatedly in Inkang's journals… as a threat, as someone who pulled strings."
Junseo felt his throat tighten.
So many lies.
So many hidden traps.
"And the surveillance footage," the officer continued, "of Mr. Myun Hyuk's men disposing of the body of Jao… this alone is grounds for custody."
Junseo clenched his fists helplessly.
He thought of Ajin—standing before the cameras with that cold expression, showing the video, exposing Myun Hyuk.
He thought of her past, the investigation now dragging out secrets she had buried deep.
He thought of Jao—who had followed her till death.
Everything was unraveling.
He looked at Myun Hyuk again.
Their eyes met for the briefest second.
In that second, Junseo felt something crawl down his spine.
Not fear.
Not hatred.
But the realization that Myun Hyuk had always known this day might come.
The man smirked subtly—just a flicker—before the officers pushed him toward the car.
Junseo whispered under his breath:
"Ajin… what have you done? What have we all been pulled into…?"
The car door slammed shut.
Sirens ignited.
And Myun Hyuk was driven away, swallowed by a storm of reporters and flashing cameras.
Junseo stood frozen.
The truth was no longer a shadow—
It was a fire, burning uncontrollably, consuming everyone tied to it.
Ajin perspective
The murmurs of the reporters buzzed like flies around me as I stepped out of the interrogation room. My head felt strangely light, yet heavy—like all the noise around me was distant, muted.
But the moment I stepped past the glass doors, everything sharpened.
Flashing camera lights.
Reporters shouting my name.
Police sirens wailing in the distance.
And then—
I saw him.
Myun-hyuk.
Handcuffed.
Surrounded by detectives.
Expression blank… but his eyes—his eyes were burning straight into me like fire behind ice.
For a moment I couldn't breathe.
Junseo had just arrived, parking his car hastily, and I caught the sight of him freezing mid-step as he saw what I was staring at. His face showed disbelief—like his chest sank into itself.
The officers guided Myun-hyuk forward, but even as he walked, his gaze never left me.
And I—
I stood there, spine stiff, hands trembling slightly though I tried not to show it.
Junseo rushed to my side, whispering, "I… I didn't think they'd find this much against him. They're charging him for attempted murder, illegal surveillance, tampering with evidence…" His voice dropped. "Even connection to In-kang's suicide."
I clenched my jaw.
Of course they were.
They had finally opened the lid on the monster he hid so beautifully from the world.
But then an officer spoke loudly for the reporters, reading from the arrest report as they placed Myun-hyuk into the police vehicle:
"—being taken into custody for obstruction of justice, orchestrating an assault resulting in death, blackmail, and psychological coercion. Ongoing investigation includes involvement in multiple suspicious cases."
Every camera turned to me.
Every whisper became a blade.
But I kept my face calm—cold.
Because I was done being weak.
Junseo looked at me, horror and confusion mixing in his eyes. "I… didn't know it was this deep," he whispered. "Aren't you… scared?"
I finally looked at him.
"I stopped being scared a long time ago," I said quietly. "Fear is what they used to control me."
My breath shook—but only a little.
"And I'm tired of being controlled."
The car door slammed shut, trapping Myun-hyuk inside.
He turned his head one last time, a slow smirk forming on his lips—as if this wasn't an arrest but a game he still believed he could win.
My chest tightened.
That smile…
That was the exact smile he had on the night he drowned me.
Cold.
Calm.
Unshakeable.
I wrapped my arms around myself without realizing it.
Junseo watched me carefully.
"You could step back from this now," he said softly. "It's already gone too far."
I inhaled sharply and forced myself to meet his eyes.
"No," I whispered. "…this is only the beginning."
The moment the handcuffs snapped around my wrists, the cold metal scraped my skin—sharp, humiliating, shocking.
I stared at the officers, my breath caught somewhere between a laugh and a scream.
"W–What are you doing?" I demanded, my voice shaking but my eyes burning with fury.
Across the room, Myun Hyuk stood with his hands cuffed behind him, lips curled into a slow, victorious smile.
That smile—the same one he used when cornering prey.
He tilted his head, eyes locked onto mine.
"Don't act too shocked, wife," he drawled. "You weren't just a victim… you were with me from the beginning. Isn't that right?"
I felt the ground tilt beneath me.
The detectives turned toward me instantly.
"Is that true? Were you involved in any actions related to this case? We have testimonies… documents… timelines…"
My throat tightened.
He was framing me—dragging me down to drown with him.
"He's lying," I spat, glaring at him. "You're seriously using this now?"
But he laughed—quiet, low, confident—as if he had been waiting for this moment.
"You knew everything," he continued smoothly. "You helped me cover the early incidents… you benefitted from them… don't deny it now just because you want to act innocent for the cameras."
The officers grabbed my arms tighter.
"To the female detention cell," one of them ordered.
I stumbled as they pushed me forward, but forced my chin up.
No fear.
No weakness.
Behind me, Myun Hyuk's voice echoed:
"Ajin—don't forget. If I fall, you fall. We were always a pair… even in hell."
I didn't turn around.
I didn't give him the satisfaction.
But inside?
Inside my heart was pounding—rage, fear, betrayal, panic all twisting together.
I wasn't supposed to end up in the same pit as him.
I wasn't supposed to be the one dragged away like a criminal.
And yet here I was—being shoved into a separate jail cell, metal bars slamming behind me, echoing through the cold corridor.
I clenched my fists.
"Fine," I whispered to myself.
If this was the next battlefield…
Then I'd survive it too.
This wasn't the end.
Not for me.
Not yet.