Jihoon became so immersed in his painting that he had no idea how much time had passed. Seyeon sat still, not moving an inch. At the moment, only the two of them were in the room. Tae-gun had followed Kang Min-chul to the company, and Sera had decided to accompany them as well.
A few hours later, Jihoon finally completed the painting. Never in his life had he painted a piece so flawlessly. His heart thumped as he gazed at it—the colors bursting with life.
"I'm done," he beamed, looking over at Seyeon. "Sorry if I took too long."
"No problem," Seyeon replied, shifting her posture. "I could have stayed like that for another three hours or so."
"Do you want to see?" Jihoon asked.
"Sure," Seyeon nodded, walking over.
When her eyes fell on the painting, she was stunned. It looked so realistic—so alive. As she stared at it, a memory suddenly flashed through her mind. In it, she saw her younger self and a little boy drawing together.
...
"I'm gonna draw you better, Jihoon!" Seyeon said proudly, gripping her crayon.
Little Jihoon giggled. "Just so you know, whatever you're drawing, it's not me."
A few moments later, they were done. Seyeon held up her drawing with a big grin. "See! I made you look better!"
Jihoon's eyes widened. "Whoa! That's... uh... really something."
Seyeon puffed out her chest. "Told you I'd get it right this time!"
Jihoon tilted his head. "Wait... that's supposed to be me?"
Seyeon's smile faded. "Who else would it be?"
Jihoon burst out laughing. "That doesn't even look like a person! What is that?"
Seyeon pouted. "If you're so good, then show me yours!"
Jihoon smirked and flipped his paper around. The moment Seyeon saw it, her mouth dropped open. It was her. And it looked... really pretty.
...
The sudden flashback caused Seyeon to stumble backward, almost falling, but Jihoon acted swiftly, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close to him.
Seyeon's face immediately turned red. Seeing the natural phenomenon occur before his eyes, Jihoon quickly let her go.
"Sorry..." he muttered.
"No, it's not your fault. I just remembered something, that's all," Seyeon replied.
Jihoon suddenly winced in pain, holding his forehead. Seyeon moved closer to him and held him in case he fell.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Jihoon nodded. "I just saw a memory, that's all."
"A memory?" Seyeon raised her brow. "What did you see?"
He chuckled, recalling what he had seen. "I saw the worst version of me ever to exist."
After a moment of silence, Seyeon spoke. "In the memory I saw, we were drawing ourselves, and I kind of drew the worst version of you. Is that what you saw?"
"Yeah," Jihoon nodded, laughing. "I wonder why I forgot something so hilarious."
---
Meanwhile, at LM Holdings, Tae-gun sat at his office table, his gaze filled with worry. Adjacent to him was Kang Min-chul, wearing the same concerned expression.
"How long do I have?" Tae-gun asked.
"One month," Min-chul replied.
"That's more than enough time to find the drive," Tae-gun said, leaning forward. "The problem is that we have no idea where it is."
"Sera told me that Jihoon knew where the drive was."
Tae-gun glanced at Min-chul with a dazed look. "He didn't tell me that. He did say he'd be able to find it, though. So where is it?"
"The Old House," Kang Min-chul answered. "I've never heard of this place before. I sent men to check the houses Seo Jisan lived in before he died, but I've found nothing that leads to the drive."
"The Old House..." Tae-gun pondered for a while. "Who else knows about this?"
"The Black Crown, probably," Min-chul replied.
"They do? If that's the case, then things will get really messy," Tae-gun shook his head with a sigh.
"They might still come for Jihoon, though," Min-chul said.
"There's something I never told you," Kang Min-chul revealed, piquing Tae-gun's curiosity. "I think there's something special about the Seo family, and your father went to great lengths to protect this secret from everyone else... The Black Crown probably knew."
At that moment, Tae-gun caught sight of someone staring into his office through a slight opening in the door. He rose to his feet with a frown and sprinted to the door, hoping to catch the perpetrator, but when he pushed it open, there was no one.
He quickly rushed to the surveillance room, where he spotted the person on one of the cameras. Fortunately for him, they hadn't left the building.
"Stop her now!" Tae-gun ordered. "That person in the red hood!"
The agents in the company heard his command and immediately confronted the intruder. About twenty of them gathered around the strange figure, Sera included.
One of the agents moved to apprehend the person, but before his hands could even touch them, he was kicked meters away, shocking everyone, including Sera. It was at that moment they knew—they couldn't take this lightly.
They decided to attack together, but the outcome was the same. They were all beaten down to the ground. Sera shook her head at how useless these agents were and decided to take on the person herself.
The intruder jumped around, dodging all of Sera's attacks without retaliating. Seeing this, Sera grew furious and kicked down the hood covering the person's face. A red-haired beauty was revealed, stunning everyone watching.
'Beautiful...' Sera cried inwardly.
"I do not want to kill you," the girl said. "Let me go..."
Sera shook her head and launched another attack, but this time, the red-haired beauty retaliated. With just one well-placed kick, Sera was thrown backward into the air, coughing out a mouthful of blood.
Just as the girl was about to leave, a domineering figure walked through the building's doors. He was huge, with white beards and long gray hair.
"It's the Crusher," someone whispered from the spectating crowd.
"Oh, that girl's finished now," another replied.
"What's he doing here? I heard he traveled abroad."
The girl subconsciously moved backward in fear. "You... What are you doing here?"
"I would like to ask you the same thing," Crusher replied. "What are you doing here? And who are you?"
Crusher was Black Shield's strongest agent. His strength surpassed all. He had left for the States on an urgent mission four years ago. Now that he was done, he had returned.
"I... I..." The girl glanced at the exit. 'He may be strong, but I'm faster!'
Swiftly, she sprinted toward the door at an almost inhuman speed. The spectators watching even thought she had vanished into thin air right before their eyes.
Just as she was about to reach the door, she felt something grab her leg and lift her into the air. Crusher grinned.
"I'm not as slow as the rumors say. I've spent the last four years training in the States. How powerful do you think I've become?"
With that, he threw her right back to where she had stood before. "I'll give you a chance to fight me. Come at me with your most powerful moves."
The red-haired girl, though still afraid, assumed a fighting stance and propelled herself forward, moving even faster than before. Her kick landed squarely on Crusher's chest. If it had been anyone else, they might have died on the spot after receiving such a powerful blow—but for Crusher, it was nothing.
"My turn," he said with a smile, sluggishly waving his hand as if swatting away a fly. The red-haired girl was sent flying backward, smashing into a wall and breaking it in the process.
A big smile appeared on Tae-gun's face. "Now that he's back, finding the drive should be much easier."
---
In a large mansion far from the city, two people—a man and a woman—sat wearing black masks with crowns attached.
"The Crusher is back," the man spoke.
"He thinks he's still the strongest," the woman laughed.
"My daughter just returned from the States," the man said. "I think she alone is enough to take down the Crusher."
"My son as well," the woman replied. "Jason."
A blonde-haired boy stepped forward. "Yes, Mother."
"Keep an eye on things at the Lee mansion," she ordered.
The boy nodded and left.
"You heard about the red-haired girl caught spying at LM Holdings today?" the man asked, taking a sip of tea.
"Mm-hmm," the woman nodded. "I asked the Black Crown… and it appears none of us sent her."
"Red Gate..." the man muttered.
"You think they're behind this?" The woman chuckled. "We got rid of them years ago. What makes you think they're back?"
"Hopefully, it's just speculation," the man replied.
---
Back at the Lee mansion, Jihoon was painting again. Seyeon had asked him to stop, but he couldn't. He wanted to paint so badly because, as he painted, blurry and unclear memories slowly revealed themselves to him.
By the time he finished painting Tae-gun, he had regained all his memories. Seyeon was shocked when she saw the painting of her father. Even though he wasn't present, Jihoon had somehow managed to paint him flawlessly.
"I remembered everything," Jihoon said with a smile.
"All of your lost memories?" she questioned.
"Yes," Jihoon replied.
Seyeon's eyes widened in excitement. "Great! Tell me all about it."
As Jihoon recounted their past, everything seemed normal—until he started mentioning things that weren't part of their memories.
"You're saying my father hid some documents under his bed?" Seyeon raised a brow since she remembered this particular memory as well. "You weren't there, so how did you know?"
Jihoon froze. How did he know?