🌑 Midnight had already settled over Itwatsuki by the time the gala finally loosened its grip on them.
The corridor that had once echoed with violence now stood quiet again, bathed in dim gold lighting and the fading pulse of distant lounge music leaking softly from the grand hall beyond.
For a moment neither of them moved.
Lily slowly lifted her face away from Jin’s chest.
The warmth of him still lingered against her skin.
A faint blush remained dusted across her cheeks, subtle now, but impossible to fully hide after everything that had happened tonight.
Carefully, she straightened herself.
Her hands moved over the fabric of her long black dress, smoothing the elegant folds where they had crumpled slightly during the confrontation.
The silky material shimmered under the corridor lights as she brushed it flat again.
Then her fingers drifted through her silver hair, fixing the soft strands that had fallen around her face.
Across from her, Jin exhaled quietly.
Not exhausted.
Just… finally releasing tension.
He turned toward the nearby couch where his black coat rested neatly folded exactly where he had placed it earlier.
Picking it up with calm movements, he slipped it back over his shoulders, the dark fabric settling perfectly against his frame once again.
He adjusted the sleeves slightly, then straightened the collar with practiced precision.
Composed again.
Or at least trying to be.
When he walked back toward her, Lily immediately stepped close and looped her arm around his again as naturally as breathing.
Then she leaned lightly into his shoulder.
A tiny nuzzle.
Soft.
Sleepy.
Comfort seeking.
“Jin…” she whispered gently, her voice quieter than before, “please… let’s go home?”
Jin blinked once at the sudden softness in her tone.
Then sighed faintly.
“…Okay,” he answered calmly.
“As you say.”
And just like that, they left together.
The massive gala hall still glittered with artificial elegance when they reentered it.
Crystal chandeliers spilled rivers of gold across the polished marble floors.
Neon strips along the walls glowed in shifting colors while electronic jazz pulsed lazily through hidden speakers.
Guests continued laughing, dancing, drinking, negotiating, pretending.
Nothing had changed.
And yet everything felt distant now.
Jin and Lily simply walked through it side by side without stopping.
No conversations.
No lingering.
No attention spared for the crowds around them.
Only the quiet pressure of Lily’s arm around his.
Only the subtle awareness of her leaning closer whenever strangers passed nearby.
The world of elites continued spinning around them, but they had already stepped outside of it emotionally.
Tonight no longer belonged to the gala.
It belonged to them.
By the time they returned to Jin Corp, midnight had fully arrived.
The city beyond the towering windows glittered like scattered stars beneath the dark sky, endless lights stretching through Itwatsuki in silent rivers.
Inside the private room on the thirteenth floor, the atmosphere felt entirely different from the loud brilliance of the gala.
Quiet.
Dim.
Safe.
Soft bedside lighting painted warm amber shadows across the room while the distant hum of the city barely reached them through the glass.
Jin sat against the headboard of the bed, now changed into a loose black robe.
The formal sharpness from earlier had disappeared with the suit, leaving him looking calmer somehow.
Less like the terrifying CEO from the corridor.
More human.
One leg bent slightly beneath the blanket, posture relaxed for once instead of rigidly composed.
Beside him sat Lily in a white robe, the fabric wrapped softly around her smaller frame.
Her makeup had already been removed completely, leaving only her natural features behind.
And somehow—
Jin thought she looked even prettier like this.
Simple.
Barefaced.
Warm.
Her silver hair spilled loosely over his shoulder as she rested her head against him quietly.
No jewelry.
No lipstick.
No gala mask.
Just Lily.
For a while, silence filled the room.
Not awkward silence.
Comfortable silence.
The kind that slowly forms when two people stop worrying about filling every second with words.
Jin eventually glanced downward slightly.
“…Um?”
Lily didn’t respond immediately.
“You’re silent?”
She remained still against him for another second before finally murmuring softly:
“I am upset.”
Jin blinked.
Actually confused.
He turned slightly toward her.
“…Why?”
Lily’s fingers curled lightly against the fabric of his robe near his chest. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Her voice remained gentle.
Not angry.
Not accusing.
Just honest.
“You just… never tell me anything, Jin.”
He stayed quiet.
Lily continued softly, eyes lowered.
“I mean… I’m just here…”
“And then someday suddenly some ninja tries to kill me…”
A tiny nervous laugh escaped her.
“But I didn’t even know why…”
“And then everything becomes connected somehow…”
Her fingers tightened slightly against him.
“Toyo…”
“The guards…”
“You…”
“…all these things I don’t understand…”
Jin watched her quietly.
Then sighed deeply through his nose.
“Hey…” he said softly, “it’s not like that.”
Lily slowly lifted her head from his shoulder.
Her silver eyes looked directly into his now.
Then gently, carefully, she placed her hand against his chest.
Right above his heartbeat.
“I’m your fiancée,” she whispered.
Her voice carried no hesitation now.
“It’s my right to know my fiancé’s troubles.”
That sentence hit him strangely hard.
Jin looked away for a brief second.
Thinking.
Debating.
For perhaps the first time in years… genuinely considering opening a locked door inside himself.
Finally, he exhaled slowly.
“…It’s related to my past.”
Lily stayed completely quiet, listening.
“My father died five years ago.”
His voice became calmer.
Colder.
“I want to find his killer.”
A pause.
“…and take revenge.”
The city lights reflected faintly in his eyes as he stared ahead.
“I think Toyo… and those guards…”
“They were trying to stop me from reaching him.”
His jaw tightened slightly.
“But they won’t.”
Lily’s expression softened immediately.
Not pity.
Understanding.
Then quietly, she asked the one thing still bothering her most.
“But Jin…”
“…why did they attack me?”
Jin answered instantly.
No hesitation.
“Because you’re my fiancée.”
His gaze shifted toward her again.
“…and my weak point.”
Silence.
A slow realization spread across Lily’s face.
Her eyes lowered slightly before she leaned back against his shoulder again, quieter this time.
“…Does living with you mean living with these dangers?”
Jin nodded once.
“Yeah.”
No sugarcoating.
No lies.
Then after a moment he added more softly:
“That’s why…”
“…I’m glad mom gave you time.”
“So you could experience this world of mine first.”
Lily stayed silent.
Jin’s expression softened little by little as his fingers moved gently through her silver hair.
“Hey,” he murmured quietly.
“It’s okay.”
“You can leave all this if you’re scared.”
The second the words left his mouth, Lily shook her head firmly.
Immediately.
Almost desperately.
“No, Jin.”
She clung tighter to him.
“I’m not.”
“And I won’t leave this…”
Her voice became smaller.
Softer.
“…I won’t leave you now.”
Jin froze.
Completely.
Something unfamiliar tightened painfully inside his chest.
“But it’s dangerou—”
“But I want to be here with you, Jin.”
She interrupted him gently before he could finish.
Then quieter:
“Honey…”
“If living with you means living with these dangers…”
“…then I’m okay with taking them.”
Jin looked directly into her eyes.
And for the first time in a very long time… someone chose all of him.
Not only the calm version.
Not only the rich version.
Not only the composed version.
But the dangerous world attached to him too.
The burdens.
The violence.
The darkness.
A quiet breath escaped him.
Then finally— a very faint smile appeared.
Small.
Real.
“…Okay, okay…”
“You’re stubborn as always, I guess…”
His eyes drifted toward her lazily.
“…Miss strawberry lover.”
Lily immediately blushed.
A soft giggle escaped her lips.
“Yes…”
“…strawberry lover.”
And then suddenly— the corridor memory returned.
The almost kiss.
Their faces close.
Their breaths mixing.
The tiny accidental brush of lips before the interruption.
Lily’s entire face exploded red instantly.
“Kyah—!”
She squeaked softly and immediately buried her face into Jin’s neck again, clinging tightly out of pure embarrassment.
Jin blinked.
Then unfortunately for him— he remembered it too.
A faint blush crept across his cheeks as he looked away awkwardly and cleared his throat.
But he still didn’t push her away.
Instead, after a second, he muttered quietly:
“Hmm…”
“…Miss shy too, I guess.”
“Shut up…” Lily whispered into his neck weakly.
Jin let out the faintest amused breath.
“Shutting me up?”
Then slowly— very slowly— he turned slightly toward her.
Lily remained hidden against him, unaware for half a second.
Jin hesitated.
Actually hesitated.
Which almost never happened.
His gaze lowered toward her flushed cheek resting near his neck.
Then carefully… gently… he leaned closer.
Lily sensed movement instantly.
Her entire body froze.
Jin’s lips brushed softly against her cheek.
Warm.
Brief.
Delicate enough to barely exist.
Yet real enough to send electricity through her entire body.
The kiss lasted only a second.
But it felt infinitely longer.
“JIN!!”
Lily squeaked loudly in embarrassment, immediately wriggling against him with her face completely burning red.
Jin instantly looked away afterward as though nothing happened, though the tiny hidden smirk near the corner of his lips betrayed him entirely.
Lily stayed buried against his neck, clinging tightly in complete shy collapse while Jin sat beside her quietly amused, pretending calm again.
Outside their windows, Itwatsuki remained dangerous.
Cold.
Unpredictable.
But inside this room— under one roof— warmth had finally begun settling between them.
And neither of them pushed it away.