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(Jae-hyun's POV)
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Jae-hyun stood alone in his study, the door closed, the silence louder than usual.
He watched the security footage on his screen — the garden, the path, and the girl walking beside him like she belonged there.
She didn't run.
He thought she might.
Almost hoped she would.
It would've made things easier.
But instead… she walked with him. Calm. Composed. Unafraid.
Defiant.
And that—more than anything—was what disturbed him.
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He poured himself a drink.
Weakness. That's what this was.
He'd built a reputation on being unshakeable. Ice-cold. Efficient.
No distractions. No liabilities.
And now?
He found himself wondering what she was thinking.
If she hated him.
If she feared him…
Or worse — if she didn't.
"You're not like other people," he had told her.
He meant it.
There was something about Seo-rin that chipped at his control. Not loudly. Not violently.
But slowly.
Quietly.
Like the kind of storm you don't see until you're already drowning.
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He stared at the screen.
She was back in her room now — pacing. Observing. Calculating.
Not crying. Not panicking.
She was studying him, too.
And he didn't know whether that made her dangerous…
Or necessary.
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A knock interrupted his thoughts.
"Boss," one of his men said through the door. "There's news about the rival shipment. You'll want to see this."
Jae-hyun didn't respond right away.
He took one last look at Seo-rin's image on the monitor.
Then he turned it off.
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> "I'll deal with everything else later," he told himself.
"But her?"
"She's not going anywhere."
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