The air is a toxic soup of orange flare smoke and the metallic tang of flashbangs. The crowd behind you is chanting, a wall of sound that hits like a physical wave. Opposite you, the police line stands like a wall of black iron, shields locked, batons ready.

And there, right in front of you, is the man whose ring you wear around your neck on a silver chain.

Kim Mingyu looks unrecognizable behind the Lexan visor of his helmet. He’s a giant of Kevlar and reinforced plastic, his boots planted firmly in the asphalt. When you step forward, defying the "get back" orders, he’s the one who breaks rank to meet you.

He doesn't use his shield to push you. He drops it, the heavy plastic hitting the ground with a clatter, and grabs the front of your jacket with both hands, hauling you toward him until your faces are inches apart.

"I said get back!" he bellows, his voice a guttural, raw explosion that somehow cuts through the sirens and the chanting. He isn't an officer right now; he’s a husband watching his world walk into a furnace. "Are you trying to make me choose? Is that what this is? You want to see me put my own wife in zip-ties on national television?"

He’s vibrating with a rage so intense it’s terrifying. He slams his hand against his own tactical vest, right over his heart.

"I have a job to do!" he roars, his eyes wide and bloodshot behind the visor. "I swore an oath to this city, and I swore an oath to you! Don't make me break one to keep the other!"

You don't move. You scream your defiance right back into his face, reminding him that he’s protecting a system that’s broken.

Mingyu’s jaw set so hard it looks like it might snap. He doesn't let go of your jacket. He pulls you even closer, his forehead slamming against yours with a dull thud of his helmet.

"I’m not moving," he whispers, a low, jagged rasp that’s filled with a desperate, toxic resolve. "If you want to get to that building, you have to go through me. Do you hear me? I will stand here until the sun comes up, and I will fight every single person behind you before I let them touch you. But I am not letting you pass. Go home, or stay here and watch us both burn, but I am not yielding."