BLACK ROSE IN SEOUL

###BLACK ROSE IN SEOUL--Chapter 9:The father's warning*

The message glowed on Anna's cracked phone screen.

> "You have 23 hours left. And tell Jae-won — his father says hi. — Y"

For five seconds, no one in the hallway breathed.

Mrs. Kim was the first to move. She grabbed Ms. Lee by the arm and pulled her up.

"You are fired. Pack your things in 10 minutes and leave my house. And if you ever step near my daughter again, I will call the police myself."

Ms. Lee sobbed and ran away, not looking at Anna.

Principal Park was still shouting about expulsion, but no one was listening to him anymore.

Jae-won was staring at the message. His jaw was so tight Anna could see the vein in his neck.

"Y," Minho read aloud. "Yoon. Your father."

Jae-won's father is Chairman Yoon Han. Owner of Han Group. The most feared businessman in Seoul. He never sends messages himself. He makes other people disappear.

"My father doesn't blackmail for $10,000," Jae-won said finally, his voice low. "He buys schools for $10 million. This is not him."

"Then who is Y?" Anna whispered. Her hands were cold.

Jae-won didn't answer. He grabbed Anna's phone and typed a reply with his own hands:

> "Who are you."

The reply came in 10 seconds.

> "Come to Han Group Tower tonight. 10pm. Rooftop. Come alone, Anna Kim. If you bring Jae-won or Minho, the full 20-minute video goes to every student in Seoul Academy. — Y"

Minho snatched the phone. "NO! You are NOT going alone! It's a trap!"

Mrs. Kim took the phone from Minho. Her face was white.

"Anna, you are not going anywhere. I will call my husband. And I will call Chairman Han directly. If his son thinks he can film my daughter in her own bedroom—"

Jae-won's phone rang. Loud. In the silent hallway.

Caller ID: FATHER.

Everyone froze.

Jae-won answered. On speaker.

"Where are you?" A deep, cold voice. Chairman Han.

"At Seoul Academy," Jae-won said.

"Bring the girl and come to my office. Now."

Click. He hung up.

Yuna was still on the floor. She laughed, but it was not a happy laugh. It was a broken laugh.

"You see? You see? It's not me! It's bigger than me! I told you! Someone wants to destroy you, Anna! And it's not just me!"

Mrs. Kim told Minho: "Take Anna home. Now. Lock her room. I will go to Han Tower myself."

But Anna shook her head. Tears were falling now.

"No. If I don't go, he will send the video. My video... in my pajamas... everyone will see it. I will be finished. Mrs. Kim... let me go. Let me talk to him."

Jae-won looked at Anna. For the first time since she knew him, his eyes were scared.

"Anna, my father... he is not like Yuna. Yuna is childish. My father... if he wants you gone from Seoul, he will make you gone. He warned me last week. He said, 'That adopted African girl will ruin your inheritance.'"

Minho stepped in front of Anna. "Then she is NOT going. We will call police."

"And tell police what?" Jae-won said bitterly. "That our maid was bribed to film? That a private video exists? Police will ask to see the video. Then MORE people will see Anna in her bedroom. Is that what you want for your sister?"

Silence again.

Anna wiped her tears. She made a decision.

"I will go. Tonight. 10pm. But Jae-won... you will wait downstairs. Not on rooftop. Downstairs. So if I scream, you can come. Please."

Jae-won wanted to say no. But he saw Anna's eyes. She was not the small, shy girl anymore. She was tired of running.

"Okay," he said. "Downstairs."

Mrs. Kim cried: "Anna!"

*10:00 PM. Han Group Tower, Gangnam.*

The tower was 60 floors. Black glass. At night, it looked like a knife in the sky.

Anna took the private elevator to the rooftop alone. Her hands were shaking so hard she couldn't press the button. Jae-won and Minho were in the lobby downstairs, arguing with security guards who would not let them up.

The rooftop door opened. Wind. Cold. Rain was starting.

A man was standing with his back to her. Not Chairman Han. Younger. In a black suit.

He turned.

Anna's heart stopped.

It was Jay. Jae-won's older half-brother. 24 years old. The real heir of Han Group. The one who was in America for 3 years. The one everyone said would be next Chairman.

Jay Park Han.

He was smiling. He had the same eyes as Jae-won, but colder.

"Hi, Anna," he said softly. "We finally meet. I'm Y. Jay. Y stands for Jay. Not Yoon."

Anna couldn't breathe. "You? You filmed me? Why?"

Jay walked closer. He was holding a tablet. On it, the full 20-minute video. Anna in her bedroom, doing homework, changing her cardigan, laughing with Jae-won, and then... Jae-won touching her thigh when she cried.

"I didn't film you," Jay said. "Ms. Lee filmed you for Yuna. But I bought the video from Ms. Lee for 2 million won this morning. She needed money after being fired, right? Easy."

"Why?!" Anna shouted, crying. "I don't even know you! What did I do to you?!"

Jay's smile disappeared.

"You exist," he said. "You exist, and my little brother, Jae-won, who never cared about anything, suddenly wants to skip Harvard, fight Father, protect you. Father was going to give me the company. Now Father says, 'Maybe Jae-won is more ruthless now because of that girl. Maybe he will be a better Chairman.'"

He stepped even closer. Rain on his hair.

"So I need you gone. $10,000 is just to make you scared and make you come here. I don't want money. I want you to leave Seoul. Leave Jae-won. Go back to... wherever you came from. Or I will send this video to every K-pop fan page, every school in Seoul. 'Adopted African girl seduces Han heir in her bedroom.' How long do you think you will last in Korea?"

Anna was shaking. Not from cold. From anger.

For two years, she was bullied by Yuna. She was called fake. She was called ugly. She survived.

And now this man...

She looked at the tablet. Then at Jay.

"If you send it," she whispered, "Jae-won will never forgive you. And he will never want the company. He will hate Han Group forever."

Jay laughed. "Jae-won will forget you in one month. Boys do."

The rooftop door banged open.

Jae-won was there. Soaked from rain. Breathing hard. He had fought the security guards. His lip was bleeding. Minho was behind him.

Jae-won saw the tablet in Jay's hand. He saw Anna crying.

In one second, he understood everything.

"Hyung," Jae-won said, his voice shaking with rage he had never shown before. "Give me the tablet."

Jay smiled at his brother. "Little brother. You climbed 60 floors for her? Father will be so proud."

Jae-won didn't wait. He ran and punched his own brother in the face. Hard.

Jay fell. The tablet flew from his hand. It slid across the wet rooftop... towards the edge...

Anna screamed.

The tablet was at the very edge of the building. One more centimeter and it would fall 60 floors to Gangnam street. If it fell, the video would be broken — but Jay had a backup on his phone. And if they fought here, someone could fall too.

Jae-won was on top of Jay, hitting him.

Minho ran to grab the tablet.

And Anna had to choose — save the tablet so it doesn't fall and expose her, or save Jae-won from becoming a criminal for beating his brother on a rooftop in front of cameras.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket again.

A NEW message. From a NEW number.

> "Anna, don't trust either Han brother. Come down to the parking lot. I have the real original video that can save you. — A Friend"

Who is A friend?