Blood & Vows

CHAPTER 3 – The Real Yue

Darkness swallowed the basement of the abandoned building whole.

The air smelled of rust, blood, and damp concrete, heavy enough to suffocate anyone unfortunate enough to step inside. Weak groans echoed from different corners of the room, blending with the slow dripping of water from the cracked ceiling above. Broken chairs and scattered weapons littered the floor, evidence of the violent chaos that had unfolded only moments ago.

And in the middle of it all stood Yue.

A streak of blood stained the sleeve of her white office blouse, the crimson color painfully visible beneath the dim hanging lights overhead. Her long hair, once neatly tied earlier that morning, had partially fallen loose around her shoulders. One of her heels pressed against the chest of an unconscious man sprawled across the cement floor, his face swollen beyond recognition.

Several feet away, two remaining men clung fearfully to the wall behind them.

Trembling.

Bleeding.

Terrified.

But none of that was what shocked Caleb the most.

It was Yue herself.

She looked… different.

Gone was the cheerful assistant who smiled brightly while carrying coffee into his office every morning. Gone was the soft voice, the playful complaints, the harmless warmth she wore so naturally around him.

What stood before him now was something else entirely.

Cold.

Merciless.

Emotionless.

Like a blade stripped of its sheath.

Caleb remained silent in the far corner of the basement, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Shadows concealed half of his expression, but his sharp gray eyes never left Yue for even a second. He had followed the trail personally.

Ever since noticing the blood stain on Yue earlier that morning, suspicion had lingered heavily in his mind. At first, he considered the possibility of coincidence. But Caleb Monton did not survive this long by ignoring his instincts. So when reports arrived about another hidden operation connected to the District Nine incident, he investigated quietly himself.

And somehow, that decision led him here. Led him to this scene. Led him to Yue.

One of the injured men whimpered painfully on the floor while clutching his shattered arm. “P-Please…” he choked out weakly. “We already told you everything…”

Yue slowly turned toward him. The movement alone made the man recoil in terror. Her face remained expressionless as she crouched down in front of him, one elbow resting casually against her knee.

“Everything?” she repeated softly.

The gentleness of her voice felt horrifying inside the blood-soaked basement.

The man nodded frantically. “Y-Yes! We swear!”

Yue tilted her head slightly. Then she smiled, not the sweet smile Caleb had grown used to seeing every day. This one was different.

Empty.

Cruel.

It never reached her eyes.

“I think you’re lying.”

The man’s face drained of color immediately. Before he could speak again, Yue grabbed his injured arm without warning and twisted harshly. A sickening crack echoed throughout the basement. The man screamed. Loud, desperate and agonized. Yet Yue’s expression never changed.

“You people are always disappointing,” she murmured quietly over his cries. “I ask simple questions, but somehow everyone insists on making things difficult.”

“P-Please!” the man sobbed. “I’m telling the truth!”

Yue released his arm carelessly, allowing it to fall limply against the floor. Then, slowly, she reached beneath her skirt toward the concealed thigh holster strapped against her leg.

Caleb’s eyes narrowed slightly. A knife. Of course she carried one.

Yue pulled the blade free with practiced ease before examining the silver edge beneath the dim light.

Beautiful.

Sharp.

Deadly.

Just like her.

The injured man immediately began shaking harder. “W-Wait—!”

Without hesitation, Yue drove the knife straight into his thigh. The scream that followed echoed violently against the basement walls. One of the other men nearly collapsed from fear.

“Answer properly,” Yue said coldly. “Or do you want me to continue?”

Blood spread rapidly beneath the man’s leg as he cried uncontrollably, clutching at the wound with trembling hands.

“I-I don’t know everything!” he gasped desperately. “We were only hired! We don’t know who the real buyer is!”

Yue stared at him silently for several seconds. Then she sighed. Disappointed and almost bored.

“You should’ve said that sooner.”

The man froze. For a brief moment, hope flickered weakly inside his terrified eyes. Until Yue smiled again. And suddenly, that hope disappeared completely.

“A-Actually…” he stammered shakily while staring at her in horror. “I-I thought you were just… a personal assistant…”

Yue laughed softly. The sound was strangely light inside such a horrifying place.

“I am still an assistant,” she replied calmly. Then her smile thinned. “But I don’t only handle paperwork and coffee.”

The man’s face paled further.

Somewhere behind her, Caleb remained motionless. Silent and watching. Everything about this felt unreal.

For years, Caleb had ruled over violence. Bloodshed no longer affected him. Fear no longer surprised him. He had seen countless killers, interrogators, and executioners throughout his life. But this…

This was different.

Because this was Yue.

The same woman who scolded him for skipping meals. The same woman who baked cookies for him in the middle of busy workdays. The same woman who smiled brightly while fixing his bandages with gentle hands. And yet those same hands now held a bloodied knife without the slightest hint of hesitation.

Caleb’s gaze slowly lowered toward the unconscious bodies scattered across the basement floor.

Clean attacks.

Precise damage.

Minimal wasted movement.

Professional.

No ordinary assistant could do this. No ordinary person could move the way Yue moved. Every step she took carried confidence. Every strike had purpose. Even the way she held the knife revealed years of experience. Which meant only one thing.

She had been hiding this side of herself from the very beginning.

The realization darkened Caleb’s expression slightly. Yue suddenly crouched once more in front of the injured man, resting her chin lazily against one hand while the knife remained loosely balanced in the other.

“You’re lucky today,” she said quietly.

The man blinked through tears.

“H-Huh…?”

“You’re still alive.”

Before the man could process her words, Yue’s eyes shifted slightly toward the shadows behind her. Toward Caleb. Silence filled the basement.

The terrified men looked confused at first, then slowly their eyes widened in horror after realizing someone else had been standing there the entire time.

Caleb finally stepped forward. Heavy footsteps echoed against the concrete floor. The moment the remaining men recognized him, panic flooded their faces completely.

“M-Monton—!”

“P-Please spare us!”

“We’ll talk! We’ll tell you everything!”

Caleb ignored them entirely. His attention remained fixed on Yue. And for the first time since entering the basement, Yue’s calm expression finally shifted slightly.

Surprise flickered briefly across her face.

“…Boss?”

The word sounded strangely soft coming from someone covered in blood. For several seconds, neither of them moved. The tension between them became suffocating.

Caleb stopped only a few feet away from her, his sharp gray eyes studying her face carefully. Not the cheerful assistant. Not the harmless secretary. This version of Yue felt like a stranger entirely. And somehow, that realization irritated him more than it should have.

“You lied to me,” Caleb finally said.

His voice remained calm. Too calm.

Yue slowly stood up, the knife still resting loosely in her hand.

“I can explain.”

“Can you?”

Silence. The basement suddenly felt smaller. Heavier. Dangerously intimate.

Yue stared at him quietly before lowering her gaze for the first time that night.

“…I didn’t plan for you to see this.”

Caleb’s expression hardened slightly.

“So there was a plan.”

Yue smiled faintly at that, though exhaustion lingered behind her eyes now. “You’re scary when you’re smart, Boss.”

“I’m always smart.”

“True.”

Despite the blood surrounding them, despite the bodies on the floor and the knife in Yue’s hand, the familiar rhythm of their conversations still remained somehow intact.

But everything had already changed. Caleb could feel it. Because now he knew.

The woman standing beside him every day…

The woman he allowed closest to him…

Was not innocent at all.

She was dangerous.

Possibly even more dangerous than the people working directly beneath him. And strangely enough, that realization did not make him angry. It made him curious. Very curious.

Caleb’s eyes slowly met Yue’s once more. For the first time since meeting her, he looked at her not as his assistant… But as someone equal to the darkness surrounding him.

“Who exactly are you, Yue?”