Jin sat on the cold stone floor of his room, staring out the window into the darkness of the night. His chest felt heavy, the weight of everything he had just discovered pressing down on him.
His true identity—Han Suho, the abandoned son of Han Jin Hyuk—haunted him, spinning around in his mind like a broken record. His bloodline. His past. The truth he had been denied. All of it.
But the question that consumed him wasn't the truth itself—it was why?
Why had his father abandoned him? What had driven him to forsake his family, to leave his wife and children behind? Was it because of power? Was it because of some greater cause? Or something darker? Something twisted?
Jin clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms. His emotions flared, a fire burning deep within him, mixing with the agony of his battle wounds.
He couldn't just sit here and drown in these memories.
He needed answers. And he would find them, no matter the cost.
Deep underground, within the Sanctum of Apostasy, the echoes of Jin Hyuk's footsteps filled the cold stone halls. His face was a mask of cold calculation, every movement deliberate, as if each step he took was part of a carefully planned ritual.
Before him, the figures in crimson robes bowed, their heads low in reverence. Arden knelt in front of the altar, where a large stone tablet lay.
Jin Hyuk's eyes narrowed as he examined the symbols etched into the tablet. Symbols of a past he could never escape.
It was as though his entire life had been etched into this stone, his destiny carved before him, and now, in his darkest hour, he had to face it.
Arden's voice broke the silence, though it was laced with a bitter, accusing tone.
"You never told me the full truth about him," Arden spat, his fists clenched. "You told me he was gone, erased—yet he lives."
Jin Hyuk remained silent, his mind racing with the questions that had haunted him since the day of Han Suho's birth.
"He's no longer a child," Jin Hyuk finally replied, his voice cold, emotionless. "I never wanted him to exist. But destiny has a way of making its demands. And now…"
He clenched his jaw. The last thing he wanted was for his son to come for him, to face him in this way.
Arden looked up, his golden eyes burning with anger. "What did you do to him, Jin Hyuk? Why was he cast aside? And why was I kept in the dark about his existence?"
Jin Hyuk's eyes darkened. "You wouldn't have understood. No one could have."
He turned and walked toward a nearby stone table, his voice low, barely a whisper. "The world will soon know the true cost of what I've done."
Jin's eyes snapped open, his breath coming in quick, ragged gasps. He didn't remember when he had fallen asleep—or if he even had.
The darkness of his room seemed to suffocate him, the weight of his newfound knowledge pressing against him like a vice.
He rose to his feet, his body protesting with every movement. The pain of his injuries was overwhelming, but nothing compared to the torment tearing at his soul.
His hands reached for the mirror in front of him, staring at the man who now stared back—a reflection he didn't recognize, yet at the same time, one that felt so painfully familiar.
Jin Shang. No. Han Suho.
He wasn't just a warrior anymore, not just someone who fought for survival. He was the son of a man who had turned his back on him. And that man—his father—was still out there. Somewhere.
Jin didn't know what to do with this knowledge, but he knew one thing for sure: He couldn't run from his past anymore.
His father had abandoned him. And now, he would face him, no matter the cost.
As the hours passed, the silence of the room became deafening. Jin paced back and forth, his thoughts consumed by the question that had been gnawing at him: Why?
His father's betrayal, the abandonment of his family—it didn't make sense. There had to be a reason, a purpose behind it. But Jin couldn't find the answers on his own.
A knock at the door broke his thoughts. Kaelros stood in the doorway, his expression unreadable.
"You're awake," Kaelros said quietly, stepping into the room.
Jin didn't respond, his gaze still fixed on the floor.
"Jin…" Kaelros hesitated. "We need to talk."
Jin finally looked up. "About what?"
"About your father," Kaelros said. "We all know what's happened. We know what you've learned."
Jin didn't flinch. He had expected this moment, the one where everyone around him would finally know the truth.
"Do you think this is just about me?" Jin asked coldly. "This isn't just about my bloodline, Kaelros. It's about everything. The man who abandoned me, the lies, the power that has controlled my entire existence... everything. I need answers."
Kaelros sighed deeply, stepping closer. "And what will you do with them once you have them?"
"I'll end this." Jin's voice was unwavering. "I'll face him. And I'll make him pay for everything he's done."
Kaelros shook his head. "You're not alone in this, Jin. Don't forget that."
Jin met Kaelros's gaze, his eyes fierce. "I never will."
Jin stood at the balcony again, staring out into the night. His fists clenched at his sides as he thought of the man who had thrown him away. The man he had once called his father.
His body might have been scarred, his mind might have been torn by the past, but he was alive. And he would find a way to make sure that his father, the man who had forsaken him, would never escape his reckoning.
In the distance, a storm began to form. A storm that would shake the world to its core.
Jin didn't care. The storm would come. And when it did, he would be the one to tear it apart.