Tae-gun sat in his office, with Crusher to his right and Min-chul to his left.
"You got even bigger?" Min-chul frowned.
Crusher laughed. "And more powerful too. I could crush this whole building with my bare fist."
"That would be too much of an exaggeration now, wouldn't it?" Tae-gun laughed. "How was your stay in the US?"
"Great!" Crusher replied. "I spent most of my time at the gym, though, building these muscles."
After chatting for a few more minutes, Tae-gun suddenly sighed. "I'm sure you've heard of our situation."
Crusher nodded. "The Black Crown certainly has done more than I thought they could. The fact that they would risk their secrecy just to get rid of the Lee family shows that they've gotten stupid and weak."
"As expected of you. I knew you'd know about the Black Crown… It would be more strange if you didn't know about them. After all, you were my father's close friend," Tae-gun said.
Crusher smiled slightly. "Have you seen the contents of Tae-shin's journal?"
"Journal?" Tae-gun and Min-chul raised their brows.
"It's a small book he put inside a safe. In it are the secrets of the Black Crown," Crusher added. "Don't tell me you haven't found it yet?"
"I have," Tae-gun answered. "But the problem is how to open it. I don't know the voice code to the safe."
"It's a poem only a member of the Seo family would know."
---
Realizing that he had just seen Tae-gun's memories freaked Jihoon out a little. Even Seyeon herself was dumbfounded. They tested this phenomenon a few more times by having Jihoon paint Sera and some other familiar faces he knew, and it happened again! Jihoon saw pieces of their memories.
"That's crazy!" Seyeon mumbled to herself.
"It's more than crazy," Jihoon responded in awe. "This is unbelievable."
"Should we tell my father?" Seyeon asked.
"Do you want to tell him?" Jihoon turned to face her.
"Not sure," Seyeon answered. "But I think, for now, we should keep it a secret."
Jihoon nodded, and there was silence for a moment. "Do you want to go somewhere?"
"Where?" Seyeon asked awkwardly.
The next second, the two could be seen happily strolling through the busy city. Jihoon wore a black trench coat with a hood at the back, while Seyeon was dressed in a white gown, wearing a pair of white heels.
"So, what do you want to do?" Seyeon asked Jihoon shyly. "We've been walking for a while now."
"There's a small canteen just down that road. Let's go eat something," said Jihoon as he pulled Seyeon alongside him.
Upon reaching the restaurant, they discovered that the place was filled with men dressed in black suits.
"Red Moon Syndicate?" Seyeon mumbled with a frown.
"In that case, we shouldn't be here," Jihoon said, heading for the door, but a voice suddenly boomed.
"You can't just leave," a man in a black suit said. "Who's going to pay for our meals?"
Jihoon ignored them and continued walking outside. Seeing this, the men were dumbfounded and immediately followed after him.
"Where do you think you're going? Didn't you hear me speak?" the man frowned in anger.
"If I disturbed your peace, I'm sorry, but we really don't want any trouble," Jihoon replied kindly.
The man then revealed a knife. "If you don't want any trouble, then pay for our meals."
Another man licked his lips, his eyes fixated on Seyeon. "Or you can give us this pretty angel over here... I'd like to fu—"
POW!
Jihoon kissed the man with his foot, sending him flying backward. The others were shocked but attacked Jihoon the next second. Seyeon wanted to intervene, but within a few moments, all the men had been beaten down.
"Are you sure no one taught you how to fight?" Seyeon stared at Jihoon with a dazed look.
"No," Jihoon replied. "It just sort of happened."
"I see," Seyeon responded.
The passersby were impressed by what Jihoon had done, with most of them even clapping for him. They all knew what kind of people the Red Moon Syndicate were and didn't show them any sympathy.
Just as Jihoon walked toward Seyeon, a black shadow dashed into the scene and struck him in the side. The punch packed power, sending Jihoon flying meters away.
Seyeon acted on instinct, throwing a punch at the man who had attacked Jihoon, but he stopped her effortlessly and pushed her to the ground.
"You're not him, are you?" the man approached Jihoon.
Jihoon held his side and winced in pain. "What are you talking about?"
"Seo Jisan," the man replied, examining Jihoon's facial features. "Oh, so you're that bastard's son."
"You know my father?"
The man smiled. "Train harder. I'd love to spar with you again next time we meet."
With a puff of his cigar, the man dipped his hand into his pocket and strolled away. Seyeon hurried over to help Jihoon to his feet.
"I think we should go back for now."
"But we haven't even eaten yet," Jihoon said, watching as the men in suits scampered off.
The two of them walked into a small canteen and began ordering dishes. The girl in charge didn't hesitate to bring the food to their table with a big smile on her face.
Jihoon glanced at her and was stunned. "How old are you?"
"18," the girl replied.
"Are you the only one who runs this place?" Jihoon looked around.
The girl nodded, tears welling in her eyes.
"What about your mother? Your sister?" Seyeon asked.
The girl remained silent as tears slid down her face.
"It's okay," Seyeon assured her. "You can tell me."
"My father was a gambling addict, and he had accumulated so much debt before he died. My mother also took out loans to rent this place so she could start paying them off, but it turns out that the person my father owed the most didn't want our money anymore… so he took my elder sister by force.
"My mom wasn't happy about it, and the loan deadline was nearing, but she hadn't even gathered all the money. The next day, I found her dead… with a suicide note next to her body..."
The girl fell to her knees and began crying.
Jihoon comforted her before glancing at Seyeon. "This company your mom took the loan from... what's it called?"
"LM Finance," the girl answered.
"It's a subsidiary of one of my father's companies," Seyeon whispered to Jihoon.
"Really?" Jihoon asked.
"Don't worry about the debt," Seyeon said to the girl.
"..." The girl looked up at her.
"I'll pay it off," Seyeon replied. "As for the people who took your sister… they're the Red Moon Syndicate, aren't they?"
The girl nodded.
"Red Moon Casino," Jihoon mumbled with a frown.
"You know the place?" Seyeon asked.
"Yeah, I once won a billion won there, but they refused to pay me and even kicked me out, saying I cheated," Jihoon frowned. "I'll head to the casino, and you head to the company and clear off this girl's debts."
"No, I'm coming with you," Seyeon shook her head. "I can always clear the debts later."
"Whatever."
Jihoon and Seyeon then left the canteen and headed to the Red Moon Casino.
Seyeon had changed into clothing similar to Jihoon's, and they wore masks to hide their identities.
The guards at the front of the casino narrowed their eyes when they saw two masked figures approaching. One of them immediately turned to warn the boss, but before he could take a step, a phone bashed into his head, and he slumped to the ground.
The others attacked Jihoon and Seyeon in fear, but within seconds, they were all beaten down. Jihoon picked up his phone and slipped it back into his pocket.
"I can't believe you used your phone as a weapon," Seyeon shook her head.
"Anything is possible if you just believe," Jihoon said as he pushed open the casino doors.
They were greeted by the sound of rolling dice, spinning slot machines, drunken laughter, and the thick smell of alcohol. Half-naked girls strolled around, searching for men to entertain.
"Follow me," Seyeon said, leading Jihoon upstairs.
"You can't be here—"
With a swift motion of her hand, the men in suits collapsed to the ground like flies.
A few moments later, they reached the highest floor and stopped at private room 001.
Seyeon kicked down the door, and before the guards could reach for their guns, she and Jihoon took them down effortlessly.
Apart from Yoon Jaesung, there were two unfamiliar people in the room—a girl and a boy. Their presence felt like death itself.
"Who are you?" Jaesung frowned.
Jihoon scanned the room and spotted the canteen girl's elder sister sitting in a corner. He stepped toward her, but a hand to his chest stopped him.
The boy in the room spoke. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Jihoon pushed the boy's hand away, but the boy countered, deflecting Jihoon's push and landing a punch straight to his face. The impact sent Jihoon flying out of the room.
Just as Seyeon moved to attack the boy, she was intercepted by the girl, who kicked her with enough force to send her tumbling after Jihoon.
"They're strong," Jihoon muttered, wiping his mouth.
"Very... Just who are they?" Seyeon whispered.