"Beautiful?" The girl raised a brow, fascinated by Sera's words. "You think I'm beautiful?"
"I've never seen anything more beautiful," Sera mumbled.
The girl realized the awkward situation they were in and quickly rose to her feet, Sera following after.
Sera's eyes glittered in admiration as she studied the girl's eyes. "Beautiful..."
"Are you sure you're okay?" the girl asked, removing the handcuffs from her wrists and ankles.
"You're leaving?" Sera asked.
"I am," the girl replied.
"I see," Sera nodded.
"Aren't you going to try and stop me?" the girl asked.
"I would if I could," Sera smiled sarcastically. "You're far stronger than I am."
The girl shook her head. "Still, you could call for backup."
"Nope," Sera shook her head too. "What if Crusher comes again?"
"So, you're just going to let me leave? Why?"
Sera's cheeks flushed at that moment. "You're beautiful."
"And you're crazy," the girl replied. "By the way, I don't do girls."
"Oh," Sera sighed, watching the girl leave. "Can I have your name at least? I promise not to tell anyone."
"I have none," the girl replied, leaving Sera confused.
---
Jihoon opened his eyes slowly, his blurry vision becoming clearer by the second, until he could see just fine. He was in a room he didn't recognize.
'This isn't the Lee family house?' he said inwardly.
"Good morning," a beautiful feminine voice came from the door.
Jihoon glanced at it, and there he spotted a red-haired beauty smiling at him.
"You're up early," she said, approaching him with a cup in her hands. "Have some tea—you should regain your energy in no time."
Jihoon examined the tea. He had no idea who this woman was.
The woman noticed his reaction and laughed. "If I wanted to kill you, I would've done it already."
"True," Jihoon reasoned, then accepted the tea and gulped it down.
A few seconds later, he began to feel tremendous energy flowing through him. His eyes widened in shock.
"What was in that tea?" Jihoon asked the woman as he got off the bed.
"It's just normal tea with a little science magic. A little more than that, and you would've become Superman," she answered.
"Really?"
"No, stupid," she laughed. "You would've thought you were Superman and tried to fly—which might've ended in death. That's what happens to most people."
"Thank you, Miss," Jihoon bowed.
"It's fine," she said. "I presume you're ready to leave?"
"Yes," Jihoon replied.
"Your bike is just outside," she said, handing him the keys. The bike wasn't Jihoon's though—it was something he had stolen from the Red Moon Casino.
Jihoon hesitated before accepting the keys from her. "Thank you very much."
"Here, take this," she added, handing Jihoon a small box containing five capsules.
"What's this?" Jihoon asked.
"This is the stuff I put in the tea," she answered. "But this has been engineered to match your physique. Use it only when necessary, and do not take two or more pills at once—or you'll definitely die."
"Okay," Jihoon said, accepting the box from her. Then he left the house, which was even larger than the Lee family house—the old and the new combined.
"It feels oddly familiar for some reasons," Jihoon said as he climbed his bike and zoomed off.
---
"You did what?" Tae-gun frowned at Seyeon after she told him that she and Jihoon had left the house.
"I'm sorry, Father. We were bored and..." Seyeon spoke, her gaze lowered.
"I heard that Jihoon beat down the Six. Is this true?" Crusher asked.
"Yes!" Seyeon nodded. "He was really cool when he did it!"
At that moment, Crusher started to shake and sweat. Min-chul noticed this and asked, "Are you okay?"
"I need to fight Jihoon right now," Crusher replied. "Where is he?"
"He called earlier. He'll be here soon," Seyeon answered.
Tae-gun just stared at her with a dazed look on his face. Seyeon had always been obedient, quiet, and innocent ever since the accident—but after Jihoon came back into her life, her old self before the accident was slowly awakening. He didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.
"Seyeon," a voice called from the front door.
"Jihoon!" Seyeon beamed in excitement when she saw him and ran to hug him.
Tae-gun frowned at the sight and cleared his throat. "You two can do that later."
"Sorry," Seyeon and Jihoon quickly let go of each other.
"You were in an accident? Are you okay?" Min-chul asked, examining Jihoon. They had heard about Yoon Jaesung's sudden demise from the news.
Although Jihoon had his face covered, they knew he was the one who had chased Jaesung to his death. The news also showed Jihoon's bike suddenly crashing and him falling from it.
"I'm fine," Jihoon answered. "I was saved by this—"
Before Jihoon could finish what he was about to say, Crusher's punch landed on his face, and he was thrown backward, breaking the front door and falling unconscious.
"Jihoon!" Seyeon exclaimed.
"Crusher!" Tae-gun boomed.
"Huh?" A bead of sweat ran down Crusher's forehead as he realized he had packed too much power into that punch. He couldn't help himself—he had been too eager to fight Jihoon.
---
At the Yoon family house, Hwasung and Jun sat with sad looks on their faces. They had heard about Jaesung's death, and they weren't happy about it.
"Who could've done this?" Hwasung clenched his fist, slamming the table.
"I can only think of my brother at the moment," Jun answered.
"Tae-gun? Why would he do this?"
"You played a part in the attack on the Lee mansion. Maybe he's pissed about that," Jun suggested.
"Attacking me is the same as attacking the Black Crown. I doubt he would do this knowing that," Hwasung said, shaking his head in certainty.
"Which leaves us with one other suspect," Jun replied. "Seo Jihoon."
"Seo Jihoon? The painter?"
Jun affirmed, "I heard he single-handedly handled the Six. Also, a girl was spotted with him. I'm sure you already know who this girl is."
"Seyeon... Jihoon... You will pay!" Hwasung gritted his teeth.
"I can help you get revenge if you want," Jun nodded. "If the masked man was really Seo Jihoon, then he's also the one who beat Jason and Wang Hee-na. He shouldn't be taken lightly."
"If that's the case, I'd be glad if you helped me," Hwasung replied.
"The Order needs Jihoon alive, so we can't harm him—but we can hurt him," Jun grinned mischievously.
"How?"
"My niece has something going on with him," Jun said. "We just have to wait for them to fall in love more."
Hwasung smiled. "Then we strike."
"Her death would cripple both my brother and Seo Jihoon. That's what I call killing two birds with one stone," Jun laughed.
---
A large mansion stood tall, surrounded by beautiful trees. With its walls painted in crimson red, it carried a powerful aura—this was the Wang family house.
Wang Hee-na knelt before her father, tears flowing down her cheeks. Her face looked as though it had been slapped repeatedly, the skin broken and bleeding. Her father, Wang Joon-tae, stood over her with a whip in his hands.
"Father, I'm sorry," she pleaded.
"You said you fought the Crusher and won," he laughed coldly. "Now that I think about it, that sounds really funny."
"Father, I did fight him! And I did win!" she insisted.
"Shut up!" His voice shook the entire house. "How dare you lie to me? How dare you lie to me!"
"Father..." Hee-na scooted back in fear.
Joon-tae raised the whip and swung it at her. But before it could touch Hee-na, another figure appeared, catching the whip mid-air with his hand.
Hee-na had already closed her eyes, bracing for impact. When the pain didn't come, she slowly opened them—and saw her brother standing in front of her, holding the whip.
"Brother..." she whispered.
"You..." Joon-tae exhaled angrily. He yanked the whip free and stormed out of the room.
"Are you okay?" her brother asked, examining her bruised face with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry I came late."
"It's fine," Hee-na replied with a weak smile. "I deserved this. I let myself get beaten by a nobody."
"How many times have I told you that I don't want this kind of life for you?" he said firmly. "You should be in the States, studying and living a normal life."
"But Father says—"
"Forget what Father says," he cut her off. "Deep down, I know you don't want this life."
"Hyun..." she cried, pulling him into a hug. "I've missed you."
"Same here," Wang Hyun-woo replied softly.
They left together to get her face treated at the hospital.
"Hyun, how's life in the States?" she asked on the way.
"Good, I think," he replied.
"So, any luck getting a girlfriend?" she teased, winking at him.
Hyun-woo chuckled. "Girls aren't important to me right now. I need to focus on building myself—becoming strong enough so Father can never lay a finger on you again."
"Hyun..."
"Anyway, that's a story for another time," he said, changing the subject. "Now, tell me about the man who beat my sister."
"I don't know who he was, but he seemed very powerful. He beat both me and Jason with a single attack. Also, he had crazy stamina—just like you. He didn't even look tired ten minutes into the fight."
"I get that he was able to beat you," Hyun-woo said, "but Jason? That's something else."
"Right!" Hee-na nodded. "I've had several fights with Jason before, and he usually beats me in under two minutes every time."
"I need to visit the Red Moon Casino," Hyun-woo said, his tone suddenly serious.