Chapter 1
Shirayuki Yang was seventeen years old.
Nobody ever believed her.
With her delicate frame, porcelain-pale skin, and soft features, she looked closer to twelve than seventeen. Strangers often mistook her for a middle-school student, much to her annoyance.
Her appearance was almost unreal.
Long coffee-brown hair framed a face that seemed sculpted from marble, while her naturally crimson lips stood out against her pale complexion. But it was her eyes that people remembered—rare violet irises streaked with silver, like shattered stars trapped beneath glass.
Beautiful.
Fragile.
That was what everyone saw.
They saw the girl with asthma.
The girl with a heart condition.
The girl who grew tired too easily.
The girl who looked as though a strong wind might carry her away.
What they didn't see was the stubbornness beneath the delicate exterior.
Or the complete absence of self-preservation.
---
Several kilometers away, in the highest penthouse overlooking Seoul's glittering skyline, Kang Seungwon, stood beside a floor-to-ceiling window.
Rain tapped softly against the glass.
The city lights below resembled scattered diamonds beneath the darkness.
Dressed entirely in black, Seungwon looked as though the night itself had stepped into human form. His tailored suit fit perfectly, emphasizing the broad shoulders and lean build that made him intimidating even without trying.
Power clung to him naturally.
The kind that couldn't be bought.
The kind that made people lower their eyes when he entered a room.
A faint smirk played on his lips as he listened to the silence on the phone.
"Hello?"
His voice was smooth.
Dangerously smooth.
"Still there?"
Nothing.
His smirk widened.
"Interesting."
Most people started apologizing immediately.
Some cried.
A few begged.
This one did neither.
Then finally, a voice answered.
"What? No—I mean... don't come here."
There was a brief pause.
"If you want, I can come and apologize in person."
Silence.
For the first time that evening, Kang Seungwon blinked.
Once.
Slowly.
His gaze shifted from the city lights to the phone in his hand as if he had suddenly discovered it could speak another language.
"...You want to do what?"
"I said I'll apologize in person."
The answer came so matter-of-factly that Seungwon almost laughed.
Almost.
Instead, he leaned against the window.
"You do realize who you're talking to, don't you?"
"Yes."
No hesitation.
No nervousness.
Just a simple answer.
Seungwon narrowed his eyes.
That was unusual.
People usually trembled before answering that question.
"You sound remarkably calm."
"I've had a long day."
For a moment, he simply stared into space.
Then he laughed.
Not loudly.
Not warmly.
Just enough to reveal genuine amusement.
Of all the responses he had expected, that wasn't one of them.
"A long day?" he repeated.
"Yes."
"And somehow your biggest concern right now is apologizing to me?"
"Well, if you're planning to show up at my house, then yes."
The corner of Seungwon's mouth twitched.
That almost sounded like criticism.
"Are you worried about me disturbing your schedule?"
"Honestly?"
"Dare I ask?"
"You sound like a lot of work."
Silence.
A dangerous silence.
The kind that would normally make people reconsider every life choice that had led them to that moment.
Then—
Seungwon laughed again.
This time for real.
A low, unexpected sound.
Nobody spoke to him like that.
Nobody.
Yet somehow this girl had managed it within minutes.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
His eyes darkened with curiosity.
"Shirayuki Yang."
Her name rolled effortlessly from his tongue.
"I think this is the beginning of a very bad decision."
On the other end of the line came an immediate response.
"For who?"
His smile widened.
That was the first moment Kang Seungwon realized two things.
First—
Shirayuki Yang was completely incapable of being intimidated.
And second—
She was going to become a problem.
A very, very expensive problem.
