#24

The silence was thick enough to suffocate.

Light from the ceiling cast golden patterns on the walls, not just decorating the room but weighing it down with a grandeur that bordered on oppressive. The floor—black marble polished to a mirror sheen—seemed ready to echo at the slightest step.

Antique bookshelves and gold-inlaid furniture lined the walls, clearly signaling this was no ordinary office.

Outside the massive windows stretched the Hong Kong skyline—towering skyscrapers and layered urban sprawl. In the heart of the bustling city, inside Baekwoon’s headquarters, an unsettling conversation was taking place.

Zhang Lihan sat deep in a leather sofa.
His stark white hair and sharp facial lines gave him a cold, commanding presence.
A gold-ringed hand slowly turned a glass in his grasp, his suit fitted perfectly around a solid, imposing frame.

Even the air in the room seemed to fall silent under his weight.

Wei Chen sat at an angle on the adjacent couch.

Even in front of Baekwoon’s Zhang Lihan, his gaze remained dull and indifferent.
He was playing polite, but the posture was hollow—more performance than respect.

Zhang Lihan looked at his subordinate—handsome, sharp, capable in both wit and strategy. A man useful in many ways.

On the table between them, amber vodka shimmered in glasses filled with ice.

“I knew something was off with how quiet you were,” Zhang Lihan said, voice low and heavy.
His eyes burned not just with displeasure, but with betrayal.
He stopped swirling the glass. The gold ring tapped sharply against it—tak.

Wei Chen didn’t flinch. He simply looked up and asked calmly,

“What is it you want to say?”

Zhang Lihan smiled, briefly.
A vein throbbed at his temple.
Then, unable to restrain himself, he hurled the glass at Wei Chen.

Crash!

The glass struck Wei Chen’s temple, shattering on impact.
Shards and ice scattered across his face. Blood streaked down his pale skin.
He casually wiped it away with the back of his hand, then let out a faint laugh.

“So you do know everything.”

His voice was glib, but his smile was sharp as a blade.
There wasn’t a hint of guilt—only brazenness.
Zhang Lihan’s eyes darkened with rage.

“A civilian got their hands on Nexus, and on top of that, you lost her?”

His voice trembled with barely restrained fury.
Wei Chen looked out at the city lights for a moment, then turned back, his gaze unwavering.
Even his breath came low and slow, full of exasperation rather than fear.

Last night, a message had come from Xuan—
They didn’t usually contact each other outside of work, so it had stood out.

[I had no choice.]

It didn’t take Wei Chen long to figure out what it meant.
Zhang Lihan had learned about Han Dabi.

Even so, he didn’t blame Xuan.
They were never close enough to speak of trust to begin with.

Still, it seemed Xuan hadn’t revealed that Dabi was staying at Wei Chen’s place.

“You don’t even appreciate the grace I’ve shown letting you cover up for Xiangyun—then you go and botch everything!”

“…My apologies.”

Zhang Lihan’s hand trembled with rage.
He normally played the part of a dignified chairman at headquarters.
Which is why those like Wei Chen and Xuan—deeply rooted in Baekwoon’s darker side—were rarely summoned here.

But this matter was far too urgent for courtesy or patience.
His fury was so great that tension had gripped Baekwoon HQ all day like a sheet of ice.

“You talk like you care about my brother.”

“Wei Chen!”

“Who locked up a girl who came to surrender herself, sedated her, and kept her captive? That wasn’t me, was it?”

Zhang Lihan’s jaw clenched.
His method was simple: beat the dog until it lowers its tail.
Fear was the easiest way to bend people.

But not Wei Chen.

He had once kept his head down for Xiangyun’s sake.
Ever since Xiangyun vanished, though, he’d acted like he feared nothing and no one.

Arrogant bastard.
Zhang Lihan’s anger toward Wei Chen festered with each encounter.

He could easily bash his head in then and there—but Wei Chen’s influence was too vast.

Somehow, this guy had every major partner wrapped around his finger.
No one would deal with Baekwoon without him.

Eliminating Wei Chen would be suicide—his disappearance could collapse the entire network of deals he managed.

Worse, thanks to Xiangyun’s tampering with the Nexus formula, it couldn’t be stabilized by just anyone. Only someone with their genetic lineage could control it.

Zhang Lihan may have been the face of the company, but Wei Chen ran the organization in practice.
There were whispers that his followers were so loyal, they’d die for him.

That was why Zhang Lihan had sent him to Korea—to retrieve the stolen Nexus and weaken his grip on the underlings.
But this—this mess—was not what he’d expected.

His fingers tapped his knee, one, two—sharp, tense rhythms.

“If I wanted to find Xiangyun, I could have every last alley in the world scoured. A mass murderer who killed over a hundred people and vanished? I’d find him.”

Not even a smirk escaped Wei Chen.
Zhang Lihan still thought he could use Xiangyun to control him.
It was pitiful.

Wei Chen held his gaze as he answered.

“Are we finished here?”

“Bring the girl to me.”

“……”

“No stalling. No games. Deliver her—to me.”

It was as expected.
Unavoidable.
Even if another Nexus version was created, Zhang Lihan would want to capture Han Dabi, squeeze every bit of research from her, and discard her.

It was the cleanest method.

“You know what disobeying means.”

“Yes.”

“Bring her in by the end of the month. If you miss the deadline, I’ll send someone else.”

“Understood.”

Without a flicker of emotion, Wei Chen rose from his seat.

As he took the elevator from the top floor down to the underground parking garage, thoughts swirled in his head.

He had no intention of taking reckless risks.
But he also couldn’t stand by while Xiangyun remained a branded monster—remembered not as a man, but a mass murderer.

Zhang Lihan had found out about Nexus far too soon.

He thought he had at least another month.
That illusion, born from complacency, brushed past him now as a wave of bitter regret.

He should’ve poured every waking hour into research—even sacrificed sleep.
But he hadn’t.

Hiding Han Dabi, observing her mutations in detail, continuing his study—all of it had been Wei Chen’s independent decision.
His top priority was to fully analyze and neutralize the Nexus that had embedded itself deep within her system.

But now that Zhang Lihan had caught on, it was only a matter of time before the situation spiraled into uncontrollable chaos.
Neither he nor Dabi would be able to escape that man’s grasp.

Why did he agree to all her demands?
It wasn’t like they were playing house.
A scoffing, self-mocking laugh escaped him at the thought of his own inexplicable behavior.

Just then, a young man with a buzz cut called out to him in the underground parking lot.

“Wei Chen?!”

The tanned youth stared at him in disbelief, then rubbed his eyes hard as if checking if he was hallucinating.

Wei Chen gave a small wave, and only then did the man brighten and sprint toward him at full speed.

“Lukai.”

There was a stir among the employees who had been with Lukai.
Every time Wei Chen made a rare appearance at HQ, entire departments buzzed with curiosity about the handsome man—
People had assumed he was a model for the company’s ads,
until they learned he was actually a high-ranking executive director.
That made the rumors explode even more.

“It’s been forever!”

Lukai, barely able to contain his excitement, turned and called out to his team:
“Go on ahead without me!”

His coworkers glanced back at Wei Chen, then quietly disappeared.

Once they were alone, Lukai lowered his voice.

“What happened? You got chewed out by the boss again?”

Concern flickered across his face.
Wei Chen gave a small, amused smile.

“You’ve gotten taller, Lukai.”

“I’m twenty already, you know. My growth spurt’s long done.”

“Yeah?”

Wei Chen ruffled Lukai’s buzzed head with a rough palm.
Lukai twisted away, annoyed, ducking out of his reach.

“What about the Nexus?”

Lukai asked cautiously.
Most of the organization knew Wei Chen had been sent to Korea to track it down.
And the fact that he’d been summoned back to HQ told Lukai things hadn’t gone well.

“You didn’t find it? You know how obsessed the boss is with that thing.”