Night. 3 AM.
Yerin sat slumped over the counter, mascara gathered beneath her eyes like bruised shadows. Her vision was a smear of lights and liquor and the echo of Suho's words circling her skull until it hurt to breathe. Everything he had said earlier… every truth he spoke… sliced through her chest as if he had carved her out from the inside.
He had moved on. He had healed. He had chosen someone else. And the part that burned worst was that someone else was the very girl she had allowed to bring into his life of her own will.
Her hands trembled as she wrapped them around the half-empty glass. Anger crackled under her skin. Anger at Hauen. Anger at herself. Anger at fate for twisting everything into something she no longer recognized.
Ever since Hauen appeared… everything changed. Their once-steady life spun into chaos. Suho's accident. His broken body. The terrifying vulnerability she didn't know how to face.
She wanted to say she left to give him space. She wanted to say she walked away temporarily. But the truth was simpler and uglier. She ran. She was afraid. She didn't know how to love him in that darkness.
And now… the truth stood harsh and unforgiving: He didn't wait. He didn't need her anymore. He was not hers anymore. He had walked out of her world forever. He had walked out of her orbit, found a new world, a new light, a new love… and she had no doorway left into it.
A slow, exhausted tear escaped down her cheek. She lifted her last drink with shaking fingers, swallowing the burn like punishment. His name dripped from her lips in a breathless chant, soft and broken, as if repetition could bring him back.
"Mam…" A voice brushed her ear, but it felt like it hovered at a distance.
"Ma'am, it's late," the bartender tried again, but her eyes barely focused. She couldn't understand anything except the shape of Suho's name inside her head.
"Sir, this lady is not moving… she's heavily drunk," the worker called out.
The manager didn't even look up. "Throw her out."
Her mind registered the words, but her limbs wouldn't obey. She was drowning too deeply inside her grief to move.
Rough hands grabbed her under the arms. She stumbled, heels skidding. One slipped off her foot, clattering behind her. Her purse dropped, contents scattering like pieces of her dignity.
They dragged her through the doorway and discarded her outside, onto the cold pavement, the way trash bags are tossed at closing time.
Her cheek pressed against the rough ground."Suho… I love you, baby…" she mumbled, lost in her own fog. "I love you, Suho… don't leave me… please..."
Her body trembled, her words stumbling. The street was mostly empty except for scattered shadows, and a few of them weren't the harmless kind.
"Hey… look at her," one of the men whispered, amusement crawling across his tone. "She's out of her mind. Come on. Let's have some fun."
His friend smirked and followed him. They crouched beside her, eyes glinting with intent.
"Hey, baby…" one drawled.
Yerin blinked, her vision wobbling. "Suho?" Her voice was barely a puff of breath.
The two exchanged a grin, dark and vile. "Yes, baby. It's me," one lied smoothly. "Let's go home."
Her face softened instantly, hazy relief flooding her. "You… you came back… I knew you still love me… I missed you so much…"
Their smirks widened. "We missed you, too," the second said, reaching to pull her up.
His fingers had barely brushed her skin when—
CRACK.
A violent, merciless punch landed on the nearest man's jaw, blood spilling instantly at the corner of his mouth. The second man staggered back just in time to avoid another blow.
A low, dangerous voice cut through the air.
"Don't you dare touch her." The voice was ice wrapped in thunder. Fierce. Protective. Deadly calm.
The second man froze. The first crumpled to his knees, coughing blood.
And Yerin, blurry-eyed and barely conscious, lifted her head just a little, trying to see who had come for her.
The place still echoed with the crack of that punch when the two men stumbled back, one clutching his bleeding mouth, the other paling at the quiet fury radiating from the stranger who had appeared like a shadow with sharp edges.
"Who are you?" one of them spat, wiping his lip.
Kevin stepped forward, jaw clenched, eyes cold. "None of your business. Now fuck off."
The men hesitated at the steel in his voice, then backed away, muttering curses that evaporated into the night.
Kevin didn't spare them another glance. He crouched beside Yerin, who lay mumbling in her heartbreak-drenched haze, and scooped her up carefully. Her head fell against his chest, her fingers curling into his shirt as if she was reaching for someone else.
"I love you, Suho… don't leave me, baby…" she whispered again and again, each word a dagger for a man who wasn't Suho.
Kevin swallowed hard and carried her to his car, lowering her gently into the passenger seat. Throughout the drive, her voice drifted like broken glass in the quiet cabin.
"I love you, Suho… please come back to me…"
Kevin's grip tightened on the steering wheel, his jaw aching from how hard he clenched it. But he said nothing. He just drove through the sleeping streets until he reached his place in Korea.
◆ ◆ ◆
Next Afternoon 1 PM
Sunlight slipped through the windows as the curtains were slid off, soft but merciless. It crawled to the bed, touching Yerin's cheek. She flinched, eyes squeezed shut at first, then slowly parted.
Her vision cleared enough to see a figure standing near the edge of the bed.
Kevin.
Still. Silent. Watching her.
When her eyes fully opened, confusion flashed across her face.
He raised his hands lightly, voice lazy. "Chill, baby. You're at my place. My home in Korea."
Her frown deepened. She pushed herself up, head heavy, hair messy, makeup ruined, but her glare sharp as ever. "What are you doing here? And why did you bring me here? Are you stalking me?"
Kevin's gaze swept over her slowly, her swollen eyes, smeared mascara, the stubborn tilt of her chin. Even wrecked, she had that same magnetism he craved and hated to admit.
"You were dumped on the street last night," he said, sliding onto the bed beside her. "If I hadn't picked you up, the stray dogs might've eaten you alive."
She glared harder.
He chuckled under his breath. "Stop glaring. I'm trying to stay in control here. You're hanging me by my last nerve, Miss Seo Yerin."
"Kevin," she said sharply, "I already told you. I don't love you. Move on."
His lips curved into a slow, infuriating smirk. "Not in this lifetime, baby."
"Then die alone," she shot back.
He loved her fire. It lit up something dangerous in him.
She threw off the blanket and stood up, grabbing her scattered clothes, putting them on. But Kevin moved. Swift. Determined. He caught her wrist.
Her eyes narrowed into a warning. "Don't you dare force on me."
His smirk deepened, but he loosened his grip… only to tug her closer a beat later, pulling her into his space. Heat coiled between them instantly.
"I might die alone someday," he murmured, voice dipped in trouble, "but until then, I'm damn well living with you, Seo Yerin."
Her breath hitched. She stared at him, trying to understand if this was madness, devotion, or both.
Before she could pull away, he leaned in and brushed a quick kiss across her lips. A barely-there touch, but enough to steal her breath.
"Forget that, Kim Suho," he said, voice dipping into a raw edge. "He moved on. He doesn't deserve you. You're rare, Yerin. A storm people fight to earn. Don't lower your worth for that scrum bag." His eyes softened, then burned. "Accept me, darling… I'll worship you till my last breath."
She held his gaze, and for a moment, she saw the sincerity, the ache, the longing written clearly in his eyes. And yet… she refused to let it touch her.
Because she only wanted one man. Her Suho. And no one else.
She shoved him back and stood up, clutching her clothes to her chest. Kevin's eyes darkened instantly. Possessiveness flickered like a spark.
He was on his feet in a heartbeat, blocking her path.
"Move, Kevin," she grumbled.
"No." His tone dipped, solid and unshakable.
"I said move." Her voice rose, and for a moment, something in him faltered. His fingers loosened immediately. Even now, she still had that command over him, that hold he couldn't shake off. She stepped forward, ready to walk out of the room and out of his orbit.
But before she could take another step, he grabbed her wrist again, harder this time, and spun her around, pinning her against the nearby wall. The suddenness of it punched a gasp out of her.
His breath came heavy. His eyes were fire. His face hovered just an inch from hers.
"No matter how much you run… how far you try to run… I'll chase you," he whispered, voice low, dangerous, trembling with want. "Everywhere. Until I make you mine."
Her pulse spiked, fury and shock crashing together. She shoved him again, this time with enough force to break his hold, and walked out without a backward glance.
And Kevin just stood there, chest rising and falling, his vow hanging in the air like a storm waiting to break.