BLACK ROSE IN SEOUL

Chapter 7;The fake Photo

Anna woke up to her phone vibrating so hard it fell off her bed.

87 notifications.

For a second, she smiled. Maybe it was readers on Dreame? Maybe her story was trending?

Then she saw the preview.

@YunaChoi_Official posted a photo.

It was her face.

But not her body.

The photo was Anna's face photoshopped onto a naked girl in a hospital bed, belly swollen and pregnant. Next to it, Jae-won shirtless, his arm around her waist. At the bottom, a fake ultrasound with text in Korean and English:

> _BREAKING: Seoul International Academy charity case ANNA KIM (17) from Africa pregnant for Han Group heir Jae-won. She trapped him to stay in Korea. Expel this w***e! #BlackRoseWhore_

Anna's blood ran cold. Her hands started shaking so hard she couldn't unlock her phone. She couldn't breathe. The room was spinning.

"ANNA! COME DOWN NOW!"

Mrs. Kim's scream from downstairs was not angry. It was terrified.

In the living room, Mrs. Kim was holding her phone like it was a weapon. Her face was white. Mr. Kim was on the phone shouting in Korean: "Delete it! I don't care how much! Pay i********:!"

Minho stood in the doorway in his pajamas, his hair messy, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles were white. He looked at Anna's face and he knew.

"How many people saw it?" Anna whispered.

Minho didn't answer. He just showed her his phone. The post had 2,034 likes. 411 comments. Comments like:

_Go back to Africa_

_We knew she was a gold digger_

_Kim family should be ashamed_

Mrs. Kim grabbed Anna and hugged her. "It's fake! I know it's fake, my daughter! Don't look!"

But Anna was already looking at herself — her own face on a body that wasn't hers, being called a w***e by her whole school.

Minho didn't say a word. He grabbed his car keys and slammed the front door so hard the wall cracked.

---

*8:30 AM — Seoul International Academy.*

The school gate was hell.

Parents were shouting at security. Students had their phones out, filming Anna as soon as she stepped out of Mrs. Kim's car. Someone shouted "Pregnant girl!" and everyone laughed.

Mrs. Kim tried to hold Anna's hand but the principal's secretary blocked her. "Parents are not allowed during investigation."

In Class 3-A, her desk was covered with printed A4 copies of the fake photo. Someone had poured the chocolate milk from yesterday all over her chair. It was sticky and pink and smelled sour.

Yuna sat in the front row, her eyes red, pretending to cry. She wore a white dress like an angel.

"Unnie," she said loudly, so the whole class could hear. "You told me you were pregnant and scared. I was just worried about your health. I had to tell the school. As your friend."

Anna saw red.

For the first time since coming from Soroti to Seoul, Anna forgot about being grateful. Forgot about being quiet. Forgot about being the good adopted daughter.

She ran to Yuna and grabbed her hair, pulling her out of her chair.

"YOU DID THIS! YOU LIAR! YOU DID THIS!"

The whole class screamed. Chairs fell. Phones came out to record.

Principal Park burst in with two guards and dragged them both to his office.

On his desk, the printed photos were already there.

"Anna Kim," he said, looking disgusted. "Seoul International has zero tolerance for moral violations. Pregnancy scandal at 17? You are suspended immediately. We will inform your adoptive parents to return you—"

He didn't finish.

The door exploded open.

Minho walked first, breathing hard, his school shirt half-tucked. Behind him, Jae-won, in a perfect black suit, with two men in black suits behind him who looked like real mafia.

Jae-won didn't even look at Anna. He walked to Principal Park's desk, took the printed photos, and tore them slowly in half, right in front of his face.

"Principal," Jae-won said, his voice low and cold. "You are suspending the victim of a s*x crime. This is AI-generated p*********y of a minor. Distributing it is 7 years in prison in Korea."

He placed his phone on the desk. A screen recording played. Yuna's laptop. Yuna in her bedroom last night, on Telegram with a photo editor: _"Make her black skin look dirty, make her belly big. 50,000 won. Hurry."_

And the IP address: Seoul International Academy WiFi.

Yuna's face went from pink to grey. "No! That's not me! That's edited! He edited it!"

Minho finally spoke. His voice was shaking with rage he had never shown before.

"Yuna Choi. You posted fake nude photos of my sister. My sister."

He turned to Principal Park. "My family donates 3 billion won a year to this school. If you suspend Anna, we pull it. Today."

Jae-won smiled. "My family donates 10 billion. We will pull it too. And we will sue the school for allowing child pornography."

Principal Park stood up so fast his chair fell.

"Investigation complete! Anna Kim is innocent! Yuna Choi ?YOU are suspended! Two weeks! And you will write a public apology!"

Yuna burst into real tears. "Minho oppa! I did it for you! She stole you! She stole everything!"

Minho looked at her like she was trash. "Don't ever call me oppa again. Ever."

He walked to Anna, took off his own school blazer, and wrapped it around her shoulders. He held her shaking shoulders tight.

"Let's go home, Anna-ah."

Anna started crying into his chest. For a second, she felt safe. Minho was here. Jae-won had saved her. Yuna was suspended.

It was over.

Or so she thought.

Just then, Anna's phone buzzed in her pocket.

And Jae-won's phone buzzed at the same time.

Anna pulled it out. Unknown number.

A video.

It was from last night. In the Kim mansion. 7 PM.

The video showed Anna's bedroom door slightly open. Inside, Anna was on her bed in her short pajamas, crying after the Yuna incident. Jae-won was sitting too close, wiping her tears, his hand on her thigh. The angle looked... intimate. Wrong. Like they were doing something.

Under the video, a message

> *"Nice tutoring session. Cute. I have the full 20-minute video. Pay me $10,000 in 24 hours or I send the FULL video to every parent group chat, Dreame, i********:,

and the Korean press. Your rich

family will throw the African girl

out. Let's see who saves you now. — Y"*

Anna's knees gave out.

Jae-won saw his own phone. Same video. Same message.

His face, which had been calm and powerful two seconds ago, went dark. Murderously dark.

Minho grabbed Anna's phone, watched 3 seconds of the video, and his hand crushed the phone case.

"Who took this?" he whispered. "Who was inside our house last night?"

Anna looked up at him, tears pouring, unable to speak.

From the hallway, they heard Mrs. Kim's voice, laughing, talking to someone:

"Yes, Yuna-ah, come in, come in! I asked you to come tutor Anna again today!"

Yuna was inside their house. Again.