The scent of old paper and lukewarm coffee clung to Chae Ja-Kyeong like a second skin. It was a calculated choice, this quiet, unassuming bookstore café. Her target, You, gravitated towards places of quiet contemplation, places where shadows were friendly and gazes fleeting.

Ja-Kyeong had been observing you for three weeks. A creature of habit, You arrived precisely at 10 AM, ordered the same weak Americano, and lost herself in a worn paperback, often an old poetry collection. You were twenty-seven, a freelance graphic designer, and utterly, devastatingly unaware of the intricate web of scandals of your father.

Kim Dae-hyun, your father, had been a mid-level corporate executive, caught in an embezzlement scandal so deep it threatened to unravel powerful names. The client, a shadowy consortium of investors, had been clear: “Tie up all loose ends. The daughter is a witness, a potential liability. Deal with her.”

Ja-Kyeong had interpreted the phrase as she always did: eliminate. But watching you, bent over a book, a faint, almost wistful smile playing on her lips as she read, something inside Ja-Kyeong had begun to fray. It wasn't pity. Ja-Kyeong seldom felt pity. It was… recognition. A quiet strength, a resilient beauty that transcended the fragility of her circumstances.

Today was the day she was meant to make her move. She had the toxicology report ready, a slow-acting poison that mimicked a sudden heart attack, utterly untraceable. She could slip it into your coffee, be gone before the first tremor.

Ja-Kyeong pushed back her chair. The wood scraped faintly, barely audible above the low hum of the café. You looked up, your eyes, a warm color met Ja-Kyeong’s for the briefest moment. Ja-Kyeong was wearing a soft, grey cashmere sweater and dark jeans, her short black hair making her look like a young boy. She looked like a person who isn't scary looking at all, not a harbinger of death.

"Excuse me," Ja-Kyeong said, her voice a low murmur, controlled, just a hint of an unfamiliar accent. "Is this seat taken?" She gestured tot he empty chair in front of you