Chapter 4 Stormfront

Jun-park Dhan had known many storms in his life - the kind that came without warning, the kind that left destruction behind, and the kind that brewed quietly in the heart. But none of them compared to this.

This wasn't weather.

This was war.

The headlines screamed:

"Krown Media Under Fire for Corporate Fraud, Insider Deals, and Bribery Ties to Political Networks."

"Daniel Suy-un Refuses to Comment."

"Anonymous Whistleblower Leaks Encrypted File Set to Destroy Krown's Reputation."

Everywhere Jun turned, his fingerprints were invisible... and yet, everything burned the way he had planned.

Krown Media was imploding.

And still, Jun's name was safe. No one knew the editor who came in quietly, worked overtime, smiled politely - was the same man who had once stood outside the gates of this company ten years ago, screaming for his mother in a firestorm.

He stood now on the rooftop of that same building, the sky rumbling like a warning behind him.

Beside him stood Chi.

"Is this what you wanted?" Chi asked, voice low, his gaze fixed on the city lights. "To destroy it all?"

Jun's mouth was dry. "I wanted the truth to come out."

"That's not what I asked."

Jun turned to him. "Then what are you asking?"

Chi's jaw tightened. "Were you the leak?"

Silence. Not denial. Not confirmation. Just the wind.

Chi scoffed and looked away. "Unbelievable. You walk into my life. Into this company. You made me trust you-"

"I didn't make you do anything," Jun said softly. "You let me in."

"Don't twist this like it's my fault."

"I'm not. I'm saying that for once... maybe you trusted the right person."

Chi spun on him, furious. "The right person? You've lied since day one! Who are you, really?"

Jun looked at him, eyes dark. "The boy your parents left in the ashes."

Chi staggered back as if the words physically struck him.

"The fire..." he whispered. "You-"

"My name is Jun-park Dhan," Jun said. "My parents owned it . The company your father took over weeks after the explosion. I was the boy who survived - the boy your family erased."

Chi shook his head slowly. "No. No, that's not-"

"You want proof?" Jun stepped forward, hands shaking. "I have it. Photos. Files. DNA tests. Bank records of your father paying off the arsonist's family in hush money. It's all buried. But I dug it up."

Chi's knees hit the bench. He sat down, stunned.

"You've been working here all this time... to destroy us."

Jun said nothing.

"To destroy me," Chi added, softer now. "You seduced me. You got inside my head-my bed-for revenge."

"No," Jun said. "That wasn't the plan."

"But it happened," Chi snapped. "Don't you dare pretend like you didn't use me."

Jun's eyes flinched. "I tried. I tried to keep my distance. But I couldn't."

"Why?"

"Because you saw me," Jun said, his voice suddenly raw. "Not the name. Not the job. Me. And I hated that."

The air between them crackled.

Jun turned to leave.

But Chi grabbed his wrist.

"Don't walk away," Chi whispered. "Not yet."

Jun faced him. "What do you want from me?"

Chi stood up, chest rising and falling fast. "I want to hate you. I really, really do."

Jun stepped closer. "Then hate me."

And just like that-

They kissed.

It was not gentle.

It was gasoline fire. Years of pain, betrayal, rage, and desire combusting in one violent, desperate touch. Chi's mouth bruised against Jun's, teeth clashing, hands tearing at clothes like every inch of fabric between them was a lie.

Jun gasped as Chi bit his lip, shoving him against the rooftop access door.

"You ruined my life," Chi hissed against his mouth.

"You were never really living," Jun whispered.

Then their mouths collided again.

Chi dragged him inside, through the stairwell, down into the unused top floor room Jun had been sleeping in for weeks. The moment the door slammed, it was chaos.

Shirts ripped.

Belts dropped.

Hands explored everything they weren't supposed to want.

Chi pinned him to the wall. "You made me feel alive and it pisses me off."

Jun moaned, low and breathless. "Then don't stop."

And Chi didn't.

They didn't fall into bed. They crashed.

And when it was over, they didn't speak for a long time. Just lay tangled, breathless, broken and bound together in a silence heavier than guilt.Jun woke up first.

Chi's arm was slung across his chest, heavy with sleep and something too close to comfort. The storm outside had passed, but the one inside Jun was just beginning to gather force again.

He slowly, carefully moved Chi's arm and sat up.

His phone buzzed - a single encrypted ping.

> [MINA]: "Someone accessed the vault files. They're not alone. You've been made."

Jun's breath caught.

He'd gone too far. Too fast. He should've never let emotions tangle with the mission. But now... someone knew.

He turned to look at Chi.

Sleeping. Peaceful. Vulnerable.

Jun's throat tightened.

He wanted to believe last night was real. That it wasn't just desperation or trauma or misplaced attraction. But belief was dangerous - it got people killed.

Jun got dressed quickly, quietly.

As he opened the door, he looked back once.

> Don't fall, Jun. You can't fall. You came for vengeance. Not this.

He closed the door behind him.

---

When Chi woke up, Jun was gone.

He sat up, heart pounding in a way that surprised him. He wasn't the clingy type. Never had been. But the way the bed felt colder without Jun...

He ran a hand through his hair, sighed, and grabbed his phone.

No message.

No missed call.

Just silence.

The same kind he'd lived with his whole life.

Until Jun.

He got dressed slowly, every movement like dragging his heart back into its armor. By the time he reached his office at Krown Media, his face was back to neutral. Perfect. Professional.

But it didn't take long.

> "Chi," his assistant said, peeking in nervously. "There's a meeting downstairs with the board. It's urgent."

"Why?"

"I think... it's about the files."

Chi froze.

The files?

He stood. Walked calmly. But inside, panic was clawing at him.

Had Jun-?

No. He wouldn't.

Would he?

---

In the boardroom, Daniel Suy-un was already seated.

Calm. Icy. Dangerous.

He looked at his son like a stranger.

"We have a leak," Daniel said. "Someone accessed restricted offshore records and encrypted slush funds. We suspect it's internal."

Chi blinked. "And... you think it's me?"

Daniel's eyes narrowed. "I think it's who you brought in."

Jun.

His father knew.

Not everything. But enough.

Chi's chest caved inward.

And for the first time in his life, he realized he had to choose.

His father.

Or Jun.

Jun was gone.

His desk was cleared out. No messages. No calls. No trace.

Just silence.

Again.

Chi slammed his fist on the glass table in his office, trembling.

> "Don't lose him."

"He's using you."

"This is war."

His father's words circled like vultures in his mind.

And yet... that night. That kiss. That look. It didn't feel fake.

It felt like the only thing that had ever been real.

Chi dropped into his chair and stared at the screen - footage from the Krown security cameras. A figure in a hoodie moving down the back stairwell at dawn. No face. No ID. But the posture... the walk...

Jun.

He reached for his drawer to pour himself a drink-and that's when he saw it.

An envelope.

Just his name on it: CHI.

His hand shook as he opened it.

Inside was a single photo.

A child. Maybe five. Standing in front of the DhanTech building. Smiling. Holding a toy bear.

Jun.

On the back, handwritten:

> "I never wanted to hate you.

But I had to see it through.

Don't let your name blind you from the truth.

J."

Chi blinked hard, trying not to feel. But it broke through anyway.

His eyes stung. His throat closed.

And suddenly, all the pieces of his life - the company, the legacy, the rules - felt like a prison made of glass. Transparent. Fragile. False.

-

Later that night, the rooftop was empty again.

The sky was clear, but Chi was drenched in his own storm.

He stood there, the photo clutched in his fist, and whispered:

> "Where are you, Jun?"

No answer came.

Just the wind.

The rooftop was colder than it should've been.

Chi stood there for hours, photo still in his hand, eyes sweeping the skyline like he was expecting a ghost to rise from the concrete.

He had no plan.

He just hoped.

And then-

A sound behind him.

Soft steps.

He turned.

Jun.

No hoodie. No mask. Just him - bare, exhausted, eyes shadowed by too many nights without sleep.

They stood in silence.

"Why are you here?" Chi asked, voice cracking.

Jun's answer was quiet. "I couldn't leave without knowing... if there was still something to save."

Chi's lips parted, but no words came.

Jun stepped closer. "The files are gone. Sent. Your father will fall. There's no undoing it now."

"I know."

"But I didn't send them all," Jun added. "I held back one folder. The worst one."

Chi looked at him.

"Why?"

"Because I couldn't destroy you."

A silence fell so heavy it almost hurt.

Chi looked away. "You should've."

Jun reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the toy bear from the photo - now old, burnt at the edges.

"I kept this," he said softly. "Even after the fire. Even after everything."

Chi took it without a word, holding it like something sacred.

And then, with a breath that felt like surrender, he said:

> "I don't care who you were.

I care who you are when you're with me."

Jun blinked, shaken.

Chi stepped forward.

> "Stay."

Jun didn't answer.

He just leaned in, forehead resting against Chi's.

The city buzzed around them - chaotic, ruthless, loud.

But on that rooftop?

All that remained was peace.

And a kiss that meant:

"I choose you. Even through the storm."