Chapter 2 Two Burises and Boardrooms

Chi Suy-un had been watched all his life.

By his parents.

By shareholders.

By hungry rivals waiting for him to crack.

He was the prince of a stolen empire-polished, brutal, impossible to satisfy.

But lately, he'd felt like prey.

Security eyes lingered longer than necessary. Meetings were scheduled without notice. His own

assistant, Mina, had begun making veiled comments like:

"You're working late a lot these days... for someone so high up."

Chi knew what that meant.

His father was testing him.

And somewhere in that house of glass and steel, someone was feeding Daniel Suy-un whispers. He

Just didn't know who Jun-park Dhan was growing restless.

The leak was working. Bit by bit, he was draining the monster from the inside. With Chi's secret

help, they'd already accessed four years of off-the-books financial cover-ups. But it wasn't enough.

He needed the root.

He needed the original agreement-the one that sanctioned the fire, erased his name, and rewrote

history.

But he also needed something he hadn't expected:

Reassurance.

Chi had been distant since the board meeting.

Cold in public. Silent in private.

Jun told himself it was part of the plan, but deep down, a smaller voice-one he hated-was asking:

Is he pulling away?

On Friday night, the tension finally snapped.

Jun was finishing up the draft of a fake newsletter to mask the server downloads when Chi burst into the copy room and slammed the door behind him. His face was flushed. His eyes wild.

"They know," Chi hissed. "It's Mina."

Jun stood. "What?"

"She's been reporting to my father. She's the leak. I caught her on a call, using a burner phone.

She's tracking my movements, yours-everything."

Jun's mind raced. "Then we're almost out of time."

"No," Chi said, pacing. "We're out of time."

He turned, eyes blazing. "You need to leave."

Jun narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"I said leave. Get out of the building. Quit. Disappear. Burn your fake name. I'll take the rest from

here."

"No."

"Yes!" Chi snapped, voice cracking. "They'll come for you first. You're the outsider. If they connect you to anything.."They won't," Jun said firmly.

"They might."

"They won't."

Chi exhaled like he'd been drowning. "Why do you have to make this harder than it already is?"

Jun's gaze softened. "Because I trust you."

Chi flinched like he'd been struck.

"I don't know what that means anymore," he whispered.

Jun stepped forward. "Then let me show you."

Before Chi could stop him, Jun cupped the back of his neck and kissed him.

This time, it wasn't desperation. It wasn't rage.

It was grounding.

Chi melted into him, hands gripping his waist like he needed to anchor himself to something real.

They stumbled back into the cabinet, lips feverish. Jun's hand slid beneath Chi's shirt, fingertips

grazing warm skin. Chi gasped against his mouth, arching slightly.

"Is this okay?" Jun murmured against his throat.

"Yes," Chi whispered. "Don't stop."

Jun didn't.

They didn't undress, didn't go all the way. But what they did share-hands, heat, friction, breath-left

them panting, eyes glassy.

Afterward, they sat in silence on the floor of the copy room, backs against the wall, fingers brushing.

Chi spoke first.

"I used to think the only way to survive my parents was to become what they wanted."

Jun looked at him. "And now?"

Chi turned his head, eyes tired. "Now I'm realizing the cost of that. And I don't want to pay you." Jun didn't reply.He didn't have to.

They both knew the end was coming. But for now, they were still here.

And they were still choosing each other.

That weekend, Chi hosted a dinner party at his parents' estate. Jun wasn't invited-of course. But

from his small apartment in the city, Jun monitored the Suy-un family's private server remotely. He

watched the guest list update, saw documents being accessed from "HomeTerminal-01."

And he saw the message.

A folder. Unnamed. Encrypted. Timestamped 9:12 p.m.

It was from Chi.

Inside: high-resolution scans of contracts. Legal waivers. Blacked-out payment chains. Burned

building blueprints.

It was everything.

The key to Jun's revenge.

He stared at the screen.It was beautiful. Precise.

Deadly.

And it came from the one person who could've destroyed him first.

Jun's hands shook.

He wanted to cry.

But he didn't.

Instead, he whispered to no one:

"Thank you."

The betrayal came with a knock.

Three of them. Light. Innocent.

Jun opened the door expecting the takeout delivery they never ordered. Instead, it was Mina.Her hair was tied up, her expression unreadable.

"You shouldn't be here," he said.

"I know," she replied, stepping inside anyway. "But I thought you'd want to know what's coming."

Chi appeared behind Jun, eyes narrowing. "How did you find us?"

"I know how to track patterns. I've been trained by your father, remember?"

"What do you want?" Jun asked.

"I want out," she said simply. "And I want protection."

"You're the leak," Chi said. "Why should we trust you?"

Mina pulled out a flash drive and tossed it onto the table.

"You don't," she said. "But I figure if I'm willing to burn the man who taught me everything, I've got

nowhere else to go."

Then she turned and walked out.

Later that night, Jun caught Chi packing a small overnight bag.You're leaving," Jun said, barely louder than a whisper.

"I need to go off-grid for a while. There's one last file-my father keeps it in his private vault."

"Why didn't you ask me to come?"

Chi zipped the bag shut. "Because if something happens to me... someone still has to finish this."

Jun stepped forward. "Don't make this sound noble. It sounds like running."

"And what if it is?"

Jun's throat tightened. "Then you're not the person I thought you were."

Chi flinched.

Then he said, "And maybe you're exactly the person I always knew you'd be-someone who can survive without me"Jun whispered, "You really think I want to survive this alone?"Chi didn't answer.He just grabbed the bag.

And walked out.

The next morning, Jun received a single message.Chi: "Don't wait for me. Finish it."