YN’s POV

The pot lay shattered on the floor. Blood and dirt painted the carpet like some grotesque artwork—dark red mixing with earthy brown, staining everything.

And him…

Mr. Kang lay crumpled, his body slumped on its side, face turned toward me with eyes half open and lifeless. A puddle of blood had pooled beneath his skull, thick and unmoving. The metallic scent was everywhere—filling my nose, sinking into my skin.

I hadn’t moved for what felt like forever.

Two hours, maybe more.

I didn’t check the clock. I couldn’t. I sat on the floor with my knees to my chest, arms locked around them like a fragile cage. My torn blouse hung loosely, my hair a mess, my skin cold. Every now and then, a tremor would pass through me like a wave, but I didn’t flinch.

My mind was blank. Hollow.

My ears still rang from the screams that had echoed earlier.

There were no more tears left. Just silence and shock.

I wasn’t sure if I was breathing. Or if I wanted to.

Then I heard it.

Footsteps.

The office door creaked open slowly—then stopped.

I didn’t look up. I couldn’t. But I heard the sharp inhale. The horrified gasp. The thud of a flashlight dropping to the floor.

It was the night guard.

“Miss YN?! Wh—what… Oh my god… Oh god… S-Somebody help!” he screamed, stumbling back into the hallway. I heard his radio crackle. His voice shaking, frantic.

My gaze remained on the blood that had soaked into the carpet tiles. I stared at it like it could explain what had just happened.

Moments later, the building was filled with noise.

Sirens. Voices. Boots thudding. Lights flashing.

Red. Blue. Red. Blue.

Uniforms rushed in. People yelling over radios. The bitter stench of antiseptic from the paramedics, mixing with blood and soil. And above it all, a sharp command:

“Get her out of here. Secure the scene.”

Someone touched my arm. “Miss, can you hear me?”

I didn’t answer.

Hands helped me to my feet. I didn’t resist.

I walked where they guided me, barefoot, trembling. I didn’t ask where we were going. I didn’t fight.

They sat me in the back of a police car. Slammed the door shut. The world became muffled behind the glass.

Later That Night

I sat in an interrogation room.

Still in the same torn blouse. Still covered in blood. A cold bottle of water sat untouched in front of me.

The detective across from me read the report again, lips tight. His voice was low and careful when he finally spoke.

“Mr. Kang was declared dead on arrival at the hospital. Severe cranial trauma. Blunt force. Multiple strikes. You were the only one in the room.”

I nodded faintly. My lips moved but no words came out.

He sighed, almost gently. “Do you understand, YN? You’re being held on suspicion of murder.”

The Headline the Next Morning:

Senior Corporate Officer Found Dead in Office. Female Employee Suspected in Brutal Homicide. Motive Unknown.

The walls were gray.

The air was dry.

And I hadn’t stopped shaking since the moment they cuffed my hands.

My body felt like it wasn’t mine. The dried blood still stained my blouse, my fingernails. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him—his body, his face frozen in death, the blood, the pot in my hand. Over. And over.

No one believed me. No one asked why.

I had told them everything—but my words felt small against the weight of a corpse.

And then the door opened.

“YN!” A familiar voice broke through my daze.

My eyes lifted for the first time in hours.

“Mira…”

She ran into the room before the officer could stop her. Her arms wrapped around me tightly, and it was the first warmth I had felt since that nightmare began. That’s when I broke.

I sobbed. Ugly, shaking, uncontrollable sobs that racked through my whole frame. I told her everything—every sickening detail. How I fought, how I screamed, how I hit him again and again. My voice cracked. My throat burned.

She didn’t interrupt.

She didn’t ask why.

She just held me tighter.

When I finally fell silent, empty and breathless, she pulled back and looked me dead in the eyes. “You defended yourself. And I’ll fight for you, I swear. But I know someone who can really help—someone who wins cases like this. Someone who won’t let them destroy you.”

I didn’t care who. I didn’t care what.

I just nodded.

The Next Day – Visiting Room

The guard opened the door slowly.

“You have a visitor. Lawyer.”

I was curled on the bench, barely holding myself together. My head lifted slowly—and then everything inside me stilled.

A man walked in.

Tall. Powerful presence. The click of his boots echoed through the room. Black suit, clean-cut. Broad shoulders filled the doorway. The white shirt underneath stretched tight across his chiseled chest. His jet-black hair was slicked back, and the piercing in his brow shimmered beneath the fluorescent light.

But it was his face that shattered something in me.

Jeon Jungkook.

My past.

The man who once stood in front of me with shaking hands and a heart full of love, asking me to be his.

And I… I had told him no. I said I wasn’t ready. That my life was too complicated. That he deserved better.

I thought I’d never see him again.

And now here he was—the most feared defense lawyer in the city. Famous for turning hopeless cases into courtroom miracles. His reputation was made of blood and fire, but his record was spotless. He never lost.

His eyes met mine—dark, intense, unreadable.

A glimmer of pain flickered in them. Just for a second.

He pulled the chair out and sat across from me. The aura around him was suffocating, commanding. Cold.

“I’m your lawyer now,” he said finally, voice low and calm. “Jeon Jungkook. We’ll talk about the case… but first—”

He leaned in slightly, his jaw tight. “Why didn’t you ever call me?”

I couldn’t breathe.

To be continued...