Chapter Text
Kim Rok Soo was a handsome young man with black hair and a baby face. Yet, beneath this seemingly innocent appearance, he was no ordinary civilian. He was an elite Special Reconnaissance Specialist from a Special Task Force. A master of covert operations honed by years of rigorous training and dangerous missions.
In his private life, Kim Rok Soo was a member of the prestigious Henituse Family. His maternal uncle, Lord Deruth Henituse, was his mother's eldest brother and the current head of the family. Despite not living in the main mansion, Kim Rok Soo maintained a close relationship with his uncle's family.
For a long time, Kim Rok Soo had been deployed in faraway lands, consumed by tough training and perilous missions. But when he finally returned to the main house, he learned that a terrible tragedy had befallen their family. Something had happened to his cousin, Cale.
When Kim Rok Soo arrived at the Henituse Mansion, the cousin he once knew was gone. Cale Henituse sat motionless, staring ahead into nothingness. His eyes were dull, the vibrant spark that had once defined him now extinguished. He looked soulless, like a man who had been so thoroughly broken that he could no longer be bothered with this world. He never spoke a word to anyone.
Deruth's men had found Cale wandering aimlessly in a park in a distant city, calling out for his son. When the doctors examined Cale, they were shocked to discover that he had recently given birth.
Cale had been carrying a child, yet he was found alone in such a devastating state.
Where was his child?
Who and where was his partner?
The family did not even know if Cale had a partner at all. The only lead came from Basen Henituse, Cale's stepbrother, who recalled that Cale had once mentioned having a boyfriend. That was the last communication Basen ever had with him, and the only piece of information the family possessed. They did not even know if Cale had married.
They did not know if he had been forced.
Nobody knew what had actually happened to him.
His uncle had broken down in front of him, his nephew. The family patriarch had wept openly, consumed by devastating sorrow as he explained the situation to Kim Rok Soo.
They had no idea who Cale was involved with in the outside world, who knew him, or if he had any friends.
In truth, the only person who might have held a real clue was Venion Stan. But Venion was already gone, found dead after falling from his penthouse, in a case the police had ruled as a suicide.
Kim Rok Soo consoled his devastated uncle.
Kim Rok Soo consoled Basen, who was trapped in a cycle of guilt over not knowing more and for not saving his brother sooner. He told the young man to stop blaming himself. God, Basen was still so young. He should not have to carry the weight of this tragedy.
As Kim Rok Soo looked at his shattered family, a cold anger ignited deep within his chest.
Whoever had done all this to them was going to pay.
It did not take long for Kim Rok Soo's team members to uncover the truth behind what had really happened to Cale Henituse. As elite Special Reconnaissance Specialists, they managed to discover what the Henituse Family's own investigators could not.
The findings were sickening.
Albert Crossman, the heir to Crossman Pharmaceutical, had trapped Cale in a fake marriage. He had fathered a child with him, only for Albert and his legal wife, Rosalyn Breck Crossman, to tear the newborn boy away from Cale immediately after he gave birth.
Albert needed a flesh-and-blood heir, and Rosalyn was unable to conceive. They had targeted Cale simply because his red hair was a close match to Rosalyn's. Most infuriating of all, they had done it because they believed Cale was an orphan, a lonely young man with no family, whom they could use, break, and discard at will.
Kim Rok Soo had met many dangerous, ruthless, and cold-blooded enemies during his years as a Task Force Specialist. However, he had never hated anyone as deeply as he hated these two people. To him, they were worse than scum, lacking any humanity or conscience.
Albert Crossman, especially, belonged to the lowest, most agonizing level of hell.
The image of his cousin, Cale, looking traumatized and soulless, filled his mind. Then he remembered his Uncle Deruth, who was crying silently and shaking from grief. The pain inflicted upon his family was a wound that would not heal.
"You will pay for making my family suffer.
Albert Crossman."
Kim Rok Soo met up with Amiru and Gilbert, Cale's close friends and former barista colleagues from the time Cale worked at the Tea Fragrance Café. The third member of their group, Eric, was not present.
Amiru and Gilbert had witnessed the very beginning when Cale first met Albert Crossman. They had seen how Albert wooed Cale, and they remembered the day Cale happily told them he was getting married. They were the last people to see Cale before he left the city following his "marriage" to live with Albert.
"...Maybe it's a good thing Eric is not here," Gilbert said quietly with a heavy expression. "I don't know how he will take this news..."
"Eric really treasures Cale... If he finds out the person he treasures ends up like this..."
Amiru could not continue. The tears she had been holding back burst forth, and she began to sob, choked with emotion. Gilbert wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
Something so unimaginably cruel had befallen their dear friend. For all this time, they had thought Cale was living a happy life with Albert. Who could have ever thought his life would turn into this?
If they had known this would happen, they would never have let Cale marry that evil man.
Kim Rok Soo watched silently.
He knew that anyone who considered themselves Cale's friend would react exactly the same way upon hearing the truth.
Witnessing their grief only hardened his resolve. Kim Rok Soo would deliver judgment to Albert Crossman and his family.
Kim Rok Soo met Taylor Stan during a Witness Protection Program.
Taylor Stan, the eldest son of the Stan Family's main branch, had once been a discarded heir. He had recently become the heir apparent to the Stan Group once more, following the sudden death of his younger brother, Venion Stan, who had fallen from his penthouse. While the police had ruled the case as a suicide, Taylor Stan knew that could not possibly be the truth.
His proud brother, Venion Stan, would never kill himself over anything.
Although there were many bitter things between them.
Although Venion Stan was evil and had even tried to kill him once during the vicious fight to become the heir.
Taylor Stan still wanted closure for his younger brother's death.
Kim Rok Soo had uncovered a vital clue that led to a shocking revelation. It was Albert Crossman who had pushed Venion Stan to his death.
Upon learning this, Taylor Stan agreed to help Kim Rok Soo by using the reopened investigation into Venion Stan's murder to pin down Albert Crossman.
Kim Rok Soo began to hunt everyone involved in Cale's suffering. He started from the beginning, targeting the fake wedding officiant, the fake witnesses, and everyone else who had participated in the sham.
"Let the law of hunting begin."
The first person he tracked down was the fake wedding officiant. The man cowered before him, shaking violently.
"I- I was just someone the fake groom hired!" the fake officiant stammered, raising his hands in a desperate plea. "I don't know anything! P- Please don't kill me!"
Kim Rok Soo looked down at him with an icy glare. "Faking an identity as an officiant is a violation of the law. I will let the law deal with you."
"No! Please!" the man begged, but Kim Rok Soo turned away without a second glance, leaving him for the authorities.
Next on his list were the fake wedding witnesses.
To Kim Rok Soo's disgust, some of the witnesses had not even been adults at the time. They were just college students trying to fish for some easy pocket money.
How laughable it all was.
First a fake officiant, and now underage witnesses?
Kim Rok Soo cornered one of them, who shrunk back in terror.
"You were a minor when you did that," Kim Rok Soo said, his tone flat and unyielding. "But now that you are an adult, be a responsible citizen and let the law dictate your punishment."
"No!" the fake witness cried out in fear.
Kim Rok Soo showed absolute ruthlessness when he dealt with all these people. To him, they were accomplices to a heinous crime, vile enablers who had sold out a man's life for profit.
Yet, above all, the person who had hired them was the most evil of all.
Albert Crossman had really stooped so low. He truly belonged to the lowest level of hell.
Although he was a highly trained special soldier, Kim Rok Soo possessed a baby face that allowed him to look significantly younger than his real age. This physical trait had always been an advantage during his covert missions.
Now, he was using it to trap the real devil he was hunting.
Kim Rok Soo disguised himself as a young college student at the university where Albert Crossman taught.
He was not alone in this endeavour. Ron, Cale's personal butler, had followed him, determined to exact revenge on behalf of his young master. Ron expertly disguised himself as Kim Rok Soo's elderly father, adopting a gentle, unassuming demeanor that perfectly masked his lethal nature.
The first step in the plan was seducing Albert Crossman.
Kim Rok Soo pretended to bump into Albert one afternoon while the professor was walking to his class. As he expected, the moment their eyes met, Albert was instantly attracted to him. Kim Rok Soo knew the man must have seen a reflection of Cale's innocence in his own eyes, and he knew Albert would never let him go from that moment on.
Albert began to find any excuse to meet him over and over again. Kim Rok Soo played his part perfectly, acting like a naive student who suspected nothing, simply greeting the professor warmly whenever he was around.
Though Kim Rok Soo never expected that Park Jin Tae guy, his supposed campus rival, to actually confess to him, it worked out perfectly for his plan. The confession made Albert jealous and obsessed. It drove the professor to forgo all morality, compelling him to try and seduce his student. Through this, Kim Rok Soo finally confirmed that the man had fallen completely for him.
As time passed, their relationship grew closer than what was appropriate for a professor and a student. Kim Rok Soo maintained his act as a clueless, innocent young man, pretending he only saw Albert as a kind professor rather than a romantic partner. It reeled Albert in deeper and deeper, sealing his own trap.
It was exactly what Albert had done to Cale in the past. Only this time, Albert was the one being tricked into a false love.
"Alvin, this is Uncle Rok Soo."
Albert had introduced his son to Kim Rok Soo one afternoon at a park.
Kim Rok Soo looked down at the five-year-old boy. The child had red hair. This was Cale's biological, missing son, the one who had been cruelly and forcibly taken from him at birth. His nephew.
The timid, shy little boy looked up at Kim Rok Soo. Instead of hiding behind Albert, the child stepped forward and reached out to hold Kim Rok Soo's hand.
"Oh, it seems Alvin likes you!" Albert remarked, clearly surprised by his son's sudden warmth towards a stranger.
Kim Rok Soo knelt down and gently scooped Alvin up into his arms.
"Hello, Alvin," Kim Rok Soo said, offering the little boy a soft smile.
'Of course he likes me.
I am his uncle.'
Alvin was cute, and he strongly resembled his birth mother, Cale Henituse. He looked nothing like Rosalyn Breck Crossman.
Now that he had finally met Alvin, and now that Albert trusted him enough to bring the boy around him, Kim Rok Soo knew it was time. He would commence the next phase of his plan.
'Cale, I will bring your son back to you.'
Kim Rok Soo began sending anonymous photos to Rosalyn, exposing her husband's infidelity.
– YOUR SO-CALLED GOOD AND LOVING HUSBAND IS CHEATING BEHIND YOUR BACK
It was satisfying to watch the always-composed "Woman of the Year", Rosalyn Breck Crossman, spiral into denial. She had convinced herself that some malicious women were merely playing tricks to tear her marriage apart.
In response, Kim Rok Soo became even more diligent with his anonymous photos. Day after day, he sent increasingly scandalous pictures of himself and Albert. With every passing week, the evidence grew stronger, reaching a point where Rosalyn could no longer turn a blind eye to the truth.
It felt incredibly good to see the great, rational Rosalyn lose her composure for the very first time.
–
Then came the day Zed Crossman's people besieged their house like a pack of wannabe gangsters.
Instead of fighting back, Kim Rok Soo and Ron put on a masterful performance, acting like helpless victims in front of Albert. Kim Rok Soo played the part of a traumatised, shaken young man who desperately needed extra care and consolation. Ron played his role to perfection as well, acting like a frail old man who was practically at death's door due to the sheer terror of the event.
Albert was absolutely furious when he saw them in such a state.
Kim Rok Soo knew exactly what would happen next. After seeing his vulnerable student and the elderly father in this condition, Albert would undoubtedly confront his own father next, demanding an explanation. The father and son would inevitably clash in a fierce argument.
Watching Albert storm out, Kim Rok Soo's eyes turned cold and calculating.
'Good.
Fight among yourselves.
The more you tear each other apart, the easier it will be for me to take down the Crossman Family.'
"Kim Rok Soo, who on earth are you?"
That was the question the Patriarch of the Crossman Family asked after the Crossman Mansion was surrounded by the authorities. Kim Rok Soo and his team members had gathered more than enough evidence to indict the Crossmans for all their evil deeds, their wrongdoings, and their deep-rooted corruption. There was absolutely no escape for them now.
Kim Rok Soo looked at the older man with a blank expression.
"Have you ever heard of the Henituse Family?"
Zed Crossman's pupils dilated upon hearing the name. The great, wealthy Henituse Family was far more powerful and influential than the Crossmans could ever hope to be.
Then, Zed Crossman's mind raced as he suddenly remembered the long-standing rumours about the Henituse Family firstborn. The eldest son of the current Lord Henituse was notoriously mysterious, choosing never to show himself to the public or attend any high-society functions. Nobody outside the estate knew what he actually looked like.
A sudden, terrifying thought struck Zed Crossman.
Was Kim Rok Soo that mysterious Henituse Family's eldest Young Master?
"...Are you the first son of the Henituse Family?"
Kim Rok Soo let out a hollow laugh.
"Me?"
He shook his head slightly.
"Though I was born on the Henituse Estate, I am not the Patriarch's eldest son. Lord Deruth Henituse is my uncle."
Kim Rok Soo stepped forward, his gaze pinning the Crossman Patriarch in place. "The better question you should be asking right now is... What is the name of the Henituse Family's firstborn?"
Silence filled the room. No one answered.
"Cale," Kim Rok Soo uttered, the name cutting through the quiet like a blade. "Cale Henituse. Does that name ring any bells to you?"
The name "Cale" sent a collective shiver down the spines of all the Crossman Family members present in the mansion.
Kim Rok Soo slowly turned his head. His icy eyes locked onto Albert, who stood frozen in shock.
"That naive, pretty, red-haired young man you met at the café years ago was not the helpless orphan you thought he was," Kim Rok Soo said, his voice dropping to a deadly quiet tone. "He is definitely someone you should never have offended and played with."
Kim Rok Soo stepped closer, the weight of his presence suffocating the room as he addressed the trembling Crossman Family.
"You have committed five grave sins."
He locked eyes with Albert.
"First, you lied to him."
He took another step forward.
"Second, you played with his heart and body."
He continued in a chilling voice.
"Third, you stole his son from him."
His voice was getting colder and colder.
"Fourth, you broke his heart. You shattered his soul."
Kim Rok Soo glanced at Zed Crossman and Rosalyn. Then, his grim gaze swept across the room.
"Fifth. You destroyed our family."
He looked at them piercingly.
"Don't mess with the Henituse Family," Kim Rok Soo warned. "We do not tolerate any injustice against our family members."
In the midst of this chaotic situation, when all the members of the Crossman Family were in utter ruin and despair, Albert's only concern remained fixed on Kim Rok Soo.
"Are you doing jobs for them?" Albert asked.
Kim Rok Soo looked at him.
"Are they forcing you to do this?" Albert asked again, stepping forward. His eyes were glued to Kim Rok Soo, refusing to look anywhere else.
"You were forced to do all this, right, Rok Soo? You had no choice."
Albert did not want to believe that Kim Rok Soo had trapped them all. In his eyes, the young man was pure and innocent. He could not be a special agent or carry out such complex missions.
"Open your eyes, Albert!" Zed Crossman shouted at his son, his face contorted with rage. "He's the mastermind behind all this! He has tricked you and everyone else!"
"No," Albert said calmly, dismissing his father as if their current ruinous situation was not crucial right now. "Rok Soo cannot do all this alone. Someone must have forced him to do these things. He's just a victim. He's innocent."
Albert then looked at Kim Rok Soo with a gentle smile and warm eyes. When he spoke, his tone was persuasive.
"It's okay, Rok Soo," Albert said softly. "Now that everything has been revealed, they can't force you to do anything anymore," he coaxed tenderly. "From now on, I will protect you."