Siwon was leaning back comfortably against the soft leather seat, looking through the large, pristine glass window of the upscale cafe. Outside, the morning crowd of Seoul was moving in a fast-paced rhythm. A rare, genuinely peaceful smile played on her beautiful lips as she watched the bustling street. She was enjoying this quiet moment of isolation before her hectic day began.
SPLASH!
In an instant, her peaceful expression completely shattered.
A burning, stinging shock of hot liquid hit the sensitive skin on the back of her neck, instantly soaking through her silky hair. It spread rapidly, soaking deep down into the thick fabric of her pristine, deep green velvet coat. The rich, expensive material darkened instantly as dark brown coffee dripped everywhere, ruining the clean texture and sliding down toward the floor.
Siwon's eyes widened into a state of absolute, icy shock. The sudden heat turned into a sticky, uncomfortable mess. She checked her back slowly with her hand, her fingertips coming away covered in warm, sticky brown coffee.
Slowly, with terrifying grace, she stood up from the chair. The entire atmosphere in the cafe shifted instantly; it felt as if the temperature in the room dropped to sub-zero in a fraction of a second. She turned her head slowly, her sharp gaze becoming lethal enough to kill as she looked directly behind her.
Standing right there was the young waiter, trembling violently from head to toe while desperately holding onto an empty silver tray. His face was completely white with sheer fear, looking like he had just seen a ghost.
"M-Ma'am! I-I didn't do it on purpose! Please believe me!" the waiter stammered frantically, his voice cracking out of terror as he took a step back. He pointed a shaking, pale finger toward a highly chaotic group standing near the entrance of the cafe. "T-They... they pushed me right into you! I'm so sorry, so, so sorry, Ma'am! It was an accident!"
Siwon completely ignored the waiter's frantic apologies, not even sparing him a single look. Her jaw tightened hard as she slowly clenched her hand into a tight, white-knuckled fist by her side. The raw, unfiltered anger radiating from her body was so suffocating that the nearby customers stopped breathing.
But as her sharp, analytical eyes tracked exactly where the waiter was pointing, her seriousness deepened. A group of rough, thuggish-looking men had cornered a young man against the hard wall, brutally beating him up without any mercy.
"Hey! You bastard!" one of the muscular thugs roared, grabbing the young man roughly by his collar and lifting him completely off his feet.
The young man was heavily drunk and felt incredibly dizzy, his head lolling back as he struggled to even open his eyes to see his attackers. It was Seo-jun. His handsome face was already bruised and swelling, and he looked completely overwhelmed and helpless in his intoxicated state.
"You thought you could vomit all over us last night at the club and just run away?!" the thug barks loudly, spraying saliva. "And now you are also drunk in the morning time?! Such a bloody bastardddd!"
"It's our damn good luck we randomly bumped into you here today; otherwise, we would have hunted you down across the entire city!" the leader sneered.
"You piece of trash," another thug spit on the floor, cracking his knuckles with a sickening sound. "Think you're some big-shot rich brat, huh? Let's see how much your family name protects you now."
He pulled his heavy fist all the way back, aiming a brutal, bone-crushing punch straight at Seo-jun's defenseless face. Before the fist could land, a cold, piercing voice cut through the noisy cafe like a sharp, steel blade.
"Who pushed the waiter?"
The sheer authority, dominance, and freezing anger in that single voice made the entire room go dead silent. The thugs froze mid-air, their brows furrowing in deep annoyance at the interruption. Slowly, the entire group turned around to see who on earth dared to stand in their way.
Seo-jun, who was still half-dazed and suffering heavily from his leftover hangover, leaned heavily against the concrete wall. He mumbled incoherent nonsense to himself, his mind completely blocked and barely aware of his surroundings or the danger he was in.
Siwon didn't even spare him a second glance. She was completely unaware in the heat of the moment that this was the exact same dramatic, annoying drunkard she had to deal with last night. Her focus was entirely on her ruined outfit.
Hearing her interruption, the leader of the thugs turned around fully, scanning her elegant figure from head to toe with an annoyed, arrogant sneer. "Hey! Who the hell are you, and why are you sticking your nose into our business? Go away if you want to stay safe, lady."
Siwon slowly turned around, her posture rigid and royal. She pointed a single, accusatory finger at the large, dripping dark coffee stain ruining the back of her deep green velvet coat. Her voice was freezing, echoing in the quiet room.
"This coat got ruined because of you people. Who is going to pay for the damage?" She eyed the rough group with absolute, unbothered disdain, treating them like filth under her shoes. "If you all chip in together and empty your bank accounts, maybe you can barely afford it. The price is exactly 15,000,000 KRW—which is around 10,000 Euros. It's not that expensive for me, but I happen to like this particular piece a lot. First, clear my matter, and then deal with others. Understood?"
One of the thugs let out a loud, mocking laugh, looking at her foreign facial features suspiciously and whispering to his boss. "Hey girl, your Korean language is good, but you don't look completely Korean. What are you, some random immigrant trying to act tough?"
The leader grinned, stepping forward. "If you are, why don't you just sit down nicely and wait? We can talk together very nicely after this. But first, let us close our important matter with this brat."
With a disgusting, arrogant smirk, the thug turned his back on her, completely dismissing her words as he raised his fist to punch Seo-jun again.
Grab!
Before his hand could move an inch, Siwon's cold, slender hand clamped around his thick wrist like a crushing steel vice. The sheer strength made the thug's eyes widen.
"I don't have the luxury of time to sit around while you 'close your matter,'" Siwon said, her eyes flashing with dangerous, murderous impatience. "First clear my matter, then others. Understood?"
The leader's expression shifted from arrogance to shock. Feeling the intense pain in his wrist, he tried to show off like a reasonable man in front of his boys, flashing a fake, tight smile. "Miss, can't you just wait for a little bit? My whole team and I will talk to you very nicely right after this, I promise."
The second thug chimed in, grinning creepily at her face. "Yeah, don't worry about the money! We will even buy you nice, brand-new clothes from the market! We can show you all around Korea too. Now be a good, sweet girl, go over there to the corner, and sit down. Jao!"
Then, he arrogantly turned his attention back to the semi-conscious Seo-jun. But Siwon had absolutely zero patience left.
She reached out to a nearby side table, firmly held a fresh, hot coffee cup, and splashed the liquid directly onto the back of this man's jacket!
The leader screamed as the warm liquid soaked his clothes. In an angry, confused rage, he instantly dropped Seo-jun. Because the thug had tightly grabbed his collar, the moment he let go, the heavily drunk Seo-jun slumped hard against the wall. He was so heavily intoxicated that he could not even stand properly on his own two feet, slipping down to the floor.
"What the—?! You crazy bitch!" the leader roared, spinning back to Siwon while wiping his back. "What the hell are you doing now?!"
"Hey, just because you're beautiful, we're talking to you nicely. Don't fly too high in the air, now—" He stopped his words, exchanging a creepy, malicious smile with his boys as they realized she was alone. "Boys, I think that first we need to solve her case properly."
The entire gang moved in, surrounding her in a tight circle with sinister grins. Siwon looked completely relaxed, not a single trace of fear on her face. Her sharp eyes scanned every single one of them, taking in every detail of their posture and weaknesses with precise calculation.
The leader stepped closer, reaching his dirty hand out to grab Siwon's arm. "Ok, so now you pay for what you've—"
BAM!