At twenty-three, Hwang Hyunjin is a trusted enforcer in one of the most feared underground businesses in Seoul. The syndicate is led by the ruthless yet perfectly balanced power couple—Choi San, the stern strategist, and Choi Wooyoung, the charming diplomat. Their empire stretches across rival gangs, black-market dealings, and a network built on loyalty. By their side are chaos and brilliance embodied in Jihyun, Ryujin, Soohyun, and Bambam—each with their own eccentric strength.

But within the blood and shadows lies Hyunjin’s light: Kim Seungmin, his beautiful husband. Unlike the darkness of their world, Seungmin is soft, sweet, and impossibly kind—the type of person who can make hardened criminals laugh and remember what it means to be human. Loved by every member of the mansion, Seungmin is the heartbeat of their deadly family.

When a mission goes wrong, leaving Seungmin badly bruised, Hyunjin is faced with the one thing he despises most—seeing the love of his life in pain. In their shared bedroom, Hyunjin’s cold mask fades, revealing a man desperate to protect the only person who makes his brutal life worth living.

⸻

The mansion was alive with muffled voices from the lower floors—San’s sharp tone laced with Wooyoung’s soft laughter, Ryujin’s teasing chatter bouncing off Bambam’s booming reply. But none of it reached Hyunjin.

Their bedroom was carved out of another world entirely. High ceilings, velvet curtains drawn low, the warm golden glow of a lamp spilling across polished wood. The air was quiet, heavy, broken only by Seungmin’s soft breathing.

Seungmin lay sprawled on his stomach across their bed, black hoodie pooling around his slender frame, the hem bunched up high on his back. His shorts were small, hugging his waist and thighs in a way that would have made Hyunjin smirk on any other day. But today, Hyunjin’s focus was fixed on the ugly blotch of purple and blue stretching across the soft skin of his husband’s back.

A bruise—still angry and deep from when Seungmin had been shoved from a rooftop during last week’s mission. The fact that Seungmin had walked away from the fall at all still made Hyunjin’s chest tighten.

“Stay still,” Hyunjin murmured, his voice low, controlled. The same voice that made enemies flinch when they heard it in an alleyway, now softened into something gentle.