SOLD
The rain hit the city like it had a vendetta. Harsh, fast, cold. Neon lights smeared across puddles like spilled secrets. Aerin Han stood in the middle of it, arms crossed, soaked to the bone. Her jaw was set, not from the cold but from pride. And fury.
A black car pulled up, silent as a shadow. The door opened, and out stepped a man she had only heard of in whispers.
Hwang Hyunjin.
Leader of S.K. A face like a statue, carved and cold. Eyes that didn’t blink often. Clothes sharp enough to cut. He looked at her like she was an item being appraised.
“She’s all yours,” her uncle said, laughing like he hadn’t just sold his own blood. “Debt cleared.”
Hyunjin didn’t reply. He didn’t look at the uncle, only at Aerin. She lifted her chin defiantly. He raised a brow slightly, almost amused. Then, without a word, he turned and got back into the car.
The message was clear: get in or stay behind.
Aerin took one last look at her uncle — the man who raised her after her father’s “accidental” death. She’d never been allowed to ask questions. Only to obey. But even she hadn’t seen this coming.
She slid into the car.
The doors shut. Silence followed.
★★★★★
The S.K base wasn’t what she expected. It wasn’t flashy, or loud. It was silent. Like a library run by killers. Eyes followed her as she walked in. Felix nodded politely. Lee Know didn’t even flinch. I.N grinned like this was all a game.
She ignored them all.
Hyunjin led her into a glass-walled room. Sparsely furnished. Clean. Unwelcoming.
“You’ll stay here,” he said flatly.
“I’m not yours,” Aerin snapped.
Hyunjin’s gaze didn’t shift. “You are until the debt is paid.”
“I didn’t make the debt.”
“Neither did I.”
They stared at each other. Her fire against his ice. Then he turned and walked out. The lock clicked.
Aerin stood still. Her hands trembled slightly not from fear, but from rage. She didn’t know what her uncle owed these people. Drugs? Weapons? Blood? But she knew one thing:
She would not break here.
And she would never, ever belong to him.
Not Hwang Hyunjin. Not anyone.
She sat down, soaked, shivering, furious. Her life wasn’t hers anymore. But she’d find a way to take it back.
Even if it meant destroying everyone who held the chains.