The Black Hoods are not heroes.

They are the people sent when the law fails.

Led by Choi San and Choi Wooyoung, the organization operates with precision and control — judgment before action. Under them stands Hwang Hyunjin, their most feared weapon. Silent. Unreadable. A man people pray not to cross.

Bambam, Jihyun, Ryujin, Soohyun, and Sunoo complete the unit — sharp, loyal, and deadly in their own ways. They are not just a team.

They are family.

Missions come from only one person — the one above them all.

Tonight’s order is simple:

A 20-year-old bartender vanished from a nearby club. Last signal traced to a luxury penthouse.

But when the Black Hoods arrive…

There is no enemy waiting.

Only the boy.

Injured. Unconscious. Alone.

And for the first time in a long time…

Hyunjin feels something other than nothing.

⸻

CHAPTER ONE — “THE PENTHOUSE”

The Black Hoods don’t get calls.

They get commands.

San’s phone buzzed once. He read the message, expression going still. Wooyoung saw it instantly.

Hyunjin didn’t ask. He just stood.

Bambam stopped mid-motion. Ryujin locked her screen. Jihyun, Soohyun, and Sunoo went quiet.

San spoke calmly. “Twenty-year-old male. Bartender. Taken from Vanta Club. Location traced to a penthouse nearby.”

Wooyoung’s voice softened slightly. “Alive?”

“For now,” San said.

Hyunjin was already moving.

⸻

The penthouse door opened without resistance.

Too quiet.

Too clean.

No struggle. No noise.

Then Sunoo pointed. “…There.”

Near the couch, on the marble floor.

A boy.

Hyunjin crossed the room first. The others spread out, checking corners, halls, exits.

Clear.

The boy looked small, curled slightly on his side. Faint cuts on his collarbone. Bruising along his cheek. Split lip. His knuckles were scraped raw like he had fought back.

Still breathing.

Wooyoung exhaled. “…Poor kid.”

Bambam muttered under his breath, anger simmering.

Sunoo crouched nearby, voice gentle. “Hey… can you hear me?”

Nothing.

Hyunjin knelt.

Everyone noticed.

Hyunjin didn’t kneel for strangers.

He checked the boy’s pulse. Steady, but weak.

His eyes moved over the injuries. His jaw tightened just once.

San watched him carefully. “Hyunjin.”

A pause.

“…He tried to defend himself,” Hyunjin said quietly.

Ryujin looked around again. “No culprit. This feels wrong.”

“Maybe,” San replied. “But we don’t leave him.”

Hyunjin slid an arm under the boy and lifted him carefully. The unconscious boy’s head rested against his shoulder.

Hyunjin adjusted his hold — protective without thinking.

Wooyoung saw it. So did Sunoo.

San turned toward the exit. “We take him home.”