In Seoul’s criminal underworld, power is inherited through blood, loyalty, and silence.

At the top sits Choi San and Choi Wooyoung—the married leaders of one of the city’s most feared syndicates. Calm, calculating, and merciless only when necessary, they rule with balance. Under them operates Hwang Hyunjin, their most lethal commander: twenty-three, brilliant, and terrifyingly composed. Hyunjin does not rule—he enforces. His name alone makes men tremble.

The only exception to his ice-cold control is Kim Seungmin.

At twenty, Seungmin is clever, observant, and obedient to a fault. He lives in Hyunjin’s black-marble mansion alongside the gang—Ryujin, Bambam, Jihyun, and Soohyun—and is the only one Hyunjin allows close enough to touch him without fear. Their relationship is quiet, private, and built on unspoken rules.

Until a mission goes wrong.

Hyunjin discovers that Seungmin has been keeping secrets—ones that tie back to a rival syndicate. What begins as suspicion curdles into fury, and when Hyunjin storms back into the mansion, the carefully maintained balance fractures.

As San and Wooyoung step in to contain the fallout, Seungmin must face the consequences of loving a man who confuses protection with possession—and a leader who has never learned how to lose control without violence.

Because in the underworld, love is just another weapon.

⸻

Chapter One

The mansion doors slammed open.

Rain followed Hyunjin inside, clinging to his coat like a second skin. His movements were sharp, unrestrained—nothing like his usual measured precision. He crossed the black-marble foyer in silence, tossed his keys onto the counter, and didn’t bother removing his coat.

Every member of the house felt it.

Ryujin straightened from her seat. Bambam lowered his phone. Jihyun and Soohyun exchanged a glance.

Something was wrong.

At the far end of the living room, San and Wooyoung rose together.

San’s gaze was steady, assessing. Wooyoung’s hand brushed lightly against his husband’s wrist—habitual, grounding.

Hyunjin didn’t acknowledge them.

Footsteps echoed from the staircase.

“Hyunjin?”

Seungmin appeared at the top step, barefoot, wrapped in one of Hyunjin’s oversized black shirts. His hair was still slightly damp, like he’d just showered. Concern softened his face as he hurried down.

“The mission—what happened?” he asked quietly.

Hyunjin looked up.

The softness that usually lived in his eyes when he looked at Seungmin was gone.

“Come here.”

The command was cold.

Seungmin hesitated only a second before obeying. “Hyunjin, you’re scaring—”

Hyunjin grabbed his wrist and shoved him into the wall.

The sound cracked through the hallway, sharp and final.

Seungmin gasped as his back hit the marble, breath knocked from his lungs. He slid down slightly, stunned, eyes wide. Bambam took an instinctive step forward, but San lifted a hand.

“Hyunjin,” San said evenly. “Enough.”

Hyunjin didn’t move.

“You want to explain,” Hyunjin said lowly, staring down at Seungmin, “why I found out from an outside source that you’ve been sneaking out?”

Seungmin’s lips parted. “I—I was careful—”

“Meeting someone from the rival syndicate,” Hyunjin continued, voice deadly calm. “Behind my back.”

The room went silent.

Ryujin’s jaw tightened. Soohyun shifted closer, subtly placing himself between Hyunjin and the others.

Wooyoung stepped forward this time, voice gentle but firm. “Hyunjin. Let him go.”

For a moment, it looked like Hyunjin wouldn’t listen.

Then his grip loosened.

Seungmin slumped against the wall, breathing unevenly. Bambam crouched beside him immediately, shielding him without touching.

San approached Hyunjin slowly. “You don’t handle things like this in our house.”