Kang Biso sat slouched on the sofa, blankly staring at his phone. He’d been sending messages nonstop, but the last reply had come over an hour ago.
“…Why isn’t he answering…?”
Normally, Seol-bin was quick to check his texts. He’d respond almost immediately. But now—nothing. No read receipt, no reply.
Is he that busy? But it should be his break right about now…
“Captain…”
“…Why’s this happening?”
“Captain…!”
“It’s not even Guiding time. Did something happen?”
“CAPTAIN!!!”
Kang Bijun, sitting beside him, finally snapped and shouted. Biso flinched, startled, slapping his hands over his ears as if Bijun’s voice had physically hit him.
“…What the hell? Why are you suddenly yelling?”
Biso blinked up at his brother, hands still over his ears, looking confused. Bijun let out a dry laugh, utterly dumbfounded.
“You seriously asking that? Do you even know how many times I’ve called you? How long are you going to keep clutching that damn phone?!”
“…Uh, until I have to head to the Guide Center?”
Bijun scoffed, looking like he was about to blow a blood vessel.
“And when are you planning to do your actual job, huh? Can’t you see the mountain of paperwork piled around you? Stop obsessing over your phone and DO SOMETHING!”
“You’ll handle it.”
Kang Biso casually dismissed the paperwork on the desk with a shrug, not even sparing it a glance. Bijun let out a groan and rubbed his temples in frustration, but Biso just kept going.
“I’ve already cleaned up that idiot’s mess, dealt with some lunatic Villains acting out of line… I’ve done plenty. Don’t you think?”
Chin lifted high in defiance, Biso spoke confidently without the slightest trace of guilt. Right now, none of that other crap mattered. The only thing on his mind was Hwang Seol-bin. Not this paperwork, not anything else.
He’d been trying to confirm whether Kim Yong-ha had spiked Seol-bin’s drink when everything went sideways. Now he was stuck, unable to do anything—and he was pissed.
“I’ve done my part. The rest is yours, Deputy Commander. That’s how this works, right?”
Kang Bijun’s face twisted at his brother’s shamelessness. He finally snapped.
“If you’re not even going to do that, then quit being Captain! You think I’ve got time to spare? I’m busier than you!”
That finally got Biso’s attention. He tore his eyes away from his phone to look at his younger brother. Normally, he would’ve brushed it off with a sigh, maybe snapped a little—just enough to shut Bijun up. But today? Bijun was firing back without backing down. Clearly, he’d had enough.
If this kept up, Bijun might quit first.
Biso took a small step back, trying to calm him down.
“Alright, alright, fine. I get it. I’ll sit through the damn meeting, okay? Just cut me a break until then, yeah?”
He raised his phone in surrender, voice deliberately low and pitiful. Bijun sighed deeply and shook his head, clearly fed up.
“…Fine. I give up. But you have to show up for that meeting.”
“Yeah, yeah. Got it.”
Biso gave a half-assed answer, then immediately went back to staring at his phone.
Nothing happened… right? Should I call?
The second the thought crossed his mind, he tapped the call button. The dial tone rang out immediately, but no matter how long he waited, there was no answer—only a cold voice telling him to leave a message.
That was odd. Ever since they’d gotten together, Hwang Seol-bin had never ignored his calls. Not once.
Worry pushed past doubt, and a gnawing anxiety settled in Biso’s gut as he gripped his phone tighter.
Just then—knock knock knock—a sharp knock echoed through the room.
“…Come in.”
Biso answered in a flat voice, not even bothering to lift his head.
“Good afternoon, sir!”
A subordinate entered with a firm salute, gave Biso a polite nod, then walked straight over to Kang Bijun and handed him a folder.
“Deputy Commander. The analysis results for that glass bottle you gave me last time—here they are.”
“What? Hey, hand that over!”
Biso, who had been practically melting into the sofa just a second ago, shot up like a spring and reached out for the report. The subordinate hesitated, unsure of what to do, then reluctantly passed it to him.
Kim Yong-ha, you son of a bitch… If there’s anything in here, you’re fucking dead.
Biso’s eyes burned with fury as he scanned the page. The subordinate nervously began to read aloud.
“…The test results… showed a large quantity of sedatives.”
“Goddamn it.”
Biso’s expression turned cold in an instant.
Knew it. I fucking knew it.
He’d sensed something off. That look in Kim Yong-ha’s eyes—he knew it all too well. The way he stared at Seol-bin, full of possessiveness, jealousy, greed—it wasn’t just interest. It was obsession.
Rage welled up inside Biso like a tidal wave.
You dare lay your hands on what’s mine?
Right in front of me?!
The test report was crushed in his hand, the paper wrinkling and tearing beneath his grip.
Hwang Seol-bin, suddenly unreachable.
Kim Yong-ha, who’d drugged the drink.
And today—of all days—was the one time he wasn’t with Seol-bin.
No. No way.
It can’t be… right?
The unease that had been simmering inside him ignited into dread—and then flared into pure, seething rage.
If Kim Yong-ha had approached Hwang Seol-bin while he wasn’t there—if he’d drugged him, and that’s why Seol-bin wasn’t answering his calls…
Kang Biso’s hand clenched tighter around the crumpled test report. The playful bickering with Bijun earlier might as well have been a dream. Now, his expression was ice-cold, his gaze dark and sharpened.
“…C-Captain?”
Sensing the shift, Kang Bijun looked at him cautiously. But Biso didn’t acknowledge him. He grabbed his coat, stormed toward the door, and yanked it open with a forceful pull. His pulse was thundering.
He needed to move. Now. He had to get to Hwang Seol-bin.
Seol-bin’s in danger.
“Hyung!”
Bijun’s shout rang from behind him, but Biso didn’t stop. He flew out the door, heading straight for the Guide Center without looking back.
Clack—
His molars ground together with a sharp snap, a sound that echoed the fury boiling in his chest. He knew he needed to think clearly, logically—if he was going to fix this. But the anger wouldn’t let go. It burned hotter with every step.
Kim Yong-ha… you’re fucking dead.
He wondered how long it would take before that bastard begged for death. But even that wouldn’t be enough to put out the fire inside him.
No. He’d make him suffer—make him wish he were dead. He’d make it so death would feel like mercy.
***
“Ugh…”
A pounding headache throbbed as I slowly pried open my heavy eyelids. In a daze, I glanced around, and the unfamiliar surroundings slowly came into focus.
This isn’t my house… Where am I? Why am I in a place like this…?
I tried to piece together the situation, but my head was unusually heavy, and my thoughts wouldn’t align. More than anything, my eyelids kept trying to shut, and my body sagged like all strength had left me.
I reached up to rub my face, trying to snap myself out of it—when a metallic clinking sound echoed sharply in my ears.
“…What the hell?”
— Clank, clank!
Shackles. A pair of handcuffs, linked by a short chain, were clamped tightly around my wrists, as if to mock the very idea of freedom. Just trying to sit up seemed impossible with how little slack there was. I pulled and twisted to no avail; all I got for my efforts were wrists scraped raw by the unforgiving metal.
Left with no choice, I shifted my head side to side to survey the scene. That’s when I noticed it—both my wrists and ankles were bound to the bed, each one cuffed and locked in place. The chains were affixed to the bedframe itself, anchoring me down like a prisoner. No, not like—exactly a prisoner.
“Goddamn it…”
A surge of irritation bubbled up, searing through the fog in my mind.
And then, at last, pieces of memory flickered back.
Right. I’d been injected with something and passed out, high on whatever they drugged me with. And then—Kim Yong-ha. He must have teamed up with Kim Hyun-joong to lock me in here.
I never expected this. Shackled in chains like some kind of animal. But more than the chains, what kept gnawing at me was—
Why me?
Was it because Kim Hyun-joong had figured out my identity? No, that couldn’t be it. If he had, this wouldn’t be a private abduction—he would’ve handed me over to the police or the Guide Center. They wouldn’t have taken such an isolated approach. So then… what the hell is going on?
I couldn’t even wrap my head around the idea that Kim Yong-ha would kidnap someone. The Kim Yong-ha I knew would’ve been the one getting locked up, not doing the locking. He was never the type to go this far. Always respectful, always calling me “Sunbae-nim,” always looking up to me like a proper junior. He’d never do something like this.
So this is what they mean when they say you get stabbed in the back by the person you trust the most.
If it had been Kang Biso, I don’t think I’d be this shocked. Hell, he’d literally kidnapped me once before. But for Kim Yong-ha and Kim Hyun-joong to have conspired together to imprison me? It was too absurd to even process.
I tugged again at the chains binding my hands. They didn’t budge. Whoever fastened them did a thorough job.
I let my guard down… Trusted too easily. That’s not like me.
No. I didn’t trust them—I trusted the book. I believed in the book like it was gospel.
When did Kim Yong-ha start to change?
Was it when I rejected his confession? Or when I saved him in that dungeon? Or was it earlier than that…? I was worried about his future. I genuinely wanted to take care of him—he was always calling me sunbae-nim and following me around like a puppy. I really did my best to treat him like a proper junior… But I never imagined it would end like this.
Pathetic…
I’d dealt with Kim Yong-ha like he was the character I remembered from the original story, not the person in front of me. I treated him like he was frozen in ink—unchangeable. That kind of thinking was reckless.
When I think about it, Kang Biso was a character from the book too. But now, he was someone I’d become romantically involved with. Baek Beom was also living with me now. Even Kim Seong-gyeong, instead of being Guided by Kim Yong-ha, was coming to me for Guiding.
I’d seen with my own eyes how the characters in the book were starting to change. And yet I clung to the delusion that Kim Yong-ha alone would stay exactly the same.
And this—this is the consequence. I’d been the one to rewrite the story however I wanted, and yet I still expected him to remain the noble protagonist. I had no one to blame but myself.
I closed my eyes. My chest churned with anger and disbelief. Still, I forced myself to take deep breaths, to calm down. Losing my cool wouldn’t help. This wasn’t the first time I’d been in a situation like this. I would find a way to escape. All I had to do was get out. Just get out…
Kang Biso flashed through my mind, but the odds of him suddenly showing up to rescue me here at the center were slim to none.
…I’ll have to escape on my own.
As I mentally braced myself, footsteps echoed in the corridor outside. Steady, deliberate steps, drawing closer with each second. Kim Yong-ha? Or Kim Hyun-joong?
I quickly shut my eyes and pretended to be asleep. There was nothing to gain from letting them know I was awake. Better to play it safe and look for an opening. With my hands and feet bound, brute force was out of the question.
Click clack—click clack.
The sound of a lock being fiddled with came from outside the door. Not just one—it sounded like there were multiple layers to it. The clinking continued for a few moments, then finally… the door creaked open, slowly and ominously.
