DEVIL IN THE SPOTLIGHT

CHAPTER 1 — WRONG PLACE, WRONG NIGHT

The bass was too loud.

Aarya pressed her fingers against her temple, wincing as the music thumped through her skull like a second heartbeat.

“This was your idea,” her friend Riya shouted over the noise, laughing as she dragged Aarya further into the crowd.

Aarya rolled her eyes. “Remind me why I agreed again?”

“Because you never have fun!”

“I have fun.”

“Reading crime novels at 2 AM is not fun.”

“It is to me.”

Riya groaned dramatically before disappearing into the dancing crowd, leaving Aarya standing near the edge of the dimly lit club.

The air was thick with perfume, alcohol, and something darker—something she couldn’t quite name.

Aarya exhaled slowly, crossing her arms as she scanned the room.

She didn’t belong here.

Not in places like this.

Not in cities like this.

Seoul was supposed to be a fresh start. A new life. A clean slate.

But somehow… tonight felt wrong.

Off.

Her instincts prickled.

And she had learned one thing in life—

Never ignore that feeling.

“I need some air,” she muttered to herself.

Without waiting for Riya, Aarya slipped through the crowd, heading toward the hallway that led to the exit.

The music faded with every step.

The noise turned into a distant echo.

And the deeper she walked…

The quieter it became.

Too quiet.

Her footsteps slowed.

The hallway lights flickered faintly, casting shadows that stretched unnaturally along the walls.

“Okay… this is creepy,” she whispered.

She turned a corner—

—and froze.

Voices.

Low. Sharp. Dangerous.

Aarya instinctively stepped back, her breath catching as she pressed herself against the wall.

She shouldn’t be here.

She knew that.

But curiosity—

That fatal, stupid curiosity—

kept her still.

“…You failed,” a voice said.

Deep.

Cold.

Terrifyingly calm.

Aarya’s heart skipped.

There was something about that voice…

Something that made her stomach drop.

“I—I can explain—”

A loud thud.

Aarya flinched.

“No,” the voice replied, softer now.

Worse.

“You can’t.”

Silence.

And then—

A gunshot.

The sound ripped through the hallway like lightning.

Aarya gasped, her hand flying to her mouth as her entire body went rigid.

No.

No, no, no—

Her pulse roared in her ears.

She needed to leave.

Right now.

Slowly—carefully—she turned, her legs trembling as she began to back away.

One step.

Two steps.

Three—

Her heel hit something.

A metal tray clattered loudly against the floor.

The sound echoed like a scream.

Aarya’s blood turned cold.

Silence fell.

Heavy.

Deadly.

And then—

“…Who’s there?”

Her breath stopped.

Run.

Her mind screamed it.

RUN.

Aarya didn’t think.

She turned and bolted.

Her footsteps pounded against the floor as panic surged through her veins, adrenaline pushing her forward.

She didn’t look back.

She didn’t stop.

She just ran—

Until—

A hand grabbed her arm.

Hard.

Aarya gasped as she was yanked back, her body slamming against a solid chest.

Before she could scream—

A hand covered her mouth.

“Not. A sound.”

The voice.

That voice.

Her eyes widened.

Slowly—

terrifyingly slowly—

she looked up.

And everything inside her shattered.

It was him.

Jeon Jungkook.

The Jeon Jungkook.

The one on billboards.

The one on her Spotify playlists.

The one the entire world adored.

But this—

This wasn’t the man she knew.

His eyes were dark.

Cold.

Empty.

There was no warmth.

No softness.

No kindness.

Only danger.

Only control.

Only death.

Aarya’s body trembled beneath his grip.

This wasn’t possible.

This couldn’t be real.

“You saw something you shouldn’t have,” he said quietly.

Her heart pounded wildly as she shook her head desperately against his hand.

Tears blurred her vision.

“I didn’t—I swear—I didn’t see anything—”

He tilted his head slightly, studying her face.

As if deciding something.

Calculating.

Her fate.

Aarya felt it.

That moment—

where her life balanced on the edge of a knife.

And he was the one holding it.

Please…

Her eyes begged.

Please let me go.

For a second—

just one second—

something flickered in his gaze.

Something human.

But it vanished just as quickly.

Replaced by something darker.

Something possessive.

Something terrifying.

His grip tightened.

And then—

he smiled.

Not the soft, boyish smile the world loved.

This one was different.

Sharp.

Dangerous.

Deadly.

“Congratulations,” he whispered.

Aarya’s breath hitched.

“Your life just got… very complicated.”

Her heart dropped.

Because deep down—

she knew.

This wasn’t the end of her nightmare.

It was just the beginning.

And she had just fallen—

straight into the hands of the devil.