Warning: mentions of drugs, threats of violence, gambling.
I don't speak English, so I'm using a translator. Please forgive any mistakes!🥺
Summary: Characters' reaction to a reader who is cold and ruthless, yet holds warm feelings for them.
Characters: Lee Kang Soo, Kang Dae Ho, Noh Woo Sung, Kim Yo Han, Wang Wook
You were the biggest drug dealer in Seoul. Most of the city’s districts were under your control. None of your rivals dared to cross you, knowing full well: you would eliminate any obstacle in your path without a second thought. A true queen of the underworld, whose ties to high-ranking officials let you run your business with absolute impunity.
Yet one madman still emerged. Through your own channels, you learned that the most notorious informant in the city had decided to challenge you. Lee Kang Soo worked for Prosecutor Koo. He was a liaison — the very “rat” who skilfully navigated between the police and the criminal kingpins.
Your first meeting was fraught with tension. You weren’t used to backing down.
“You’re going to die,” you promised him calmly then, looking him straight in the eye. “The only question is how soon.”
But after that meeting, something inside you cracked. You couldn’t get him out of your head: that provocatively immaculate appearance, the perfectly styled hair, that dangerous yet magnetic gaze… For a long time you refused to admit to yourself that you had fallen in love with your enemy. Kang Soo had managed to turn your head just by being there.
The night was too quiet for someone in your profession. Kang Soo stood by the panoramic window when you entered the room, and he didn’t even turn around.
“You came alone,” you noted.
“Did I have a choice?” He smirked, taking a drag from his cigarette.
You moved closer. You were wearing an immaculate tailored suit, and on your face was that very expression that made people fall silent mid-sentence. To the world, you remained an unapproachable woman, capable of destroying a person with a single phone call. But when Kang Soo finally turned, your gaze softened, almost imperceptibly.
“I’m shutting everything down,” you said.
“What exactly?” He flicked ash from his cigarette.
“Everything. The shipments. The schemes. The whole business. I’m getting out.”
Kang Soo froze in astonishment.
“And who’s going to believe you?” he asked quietly.
A soft smile touched your lips. The hard lines of your face smoothed away, leaving not a trace of the severity that had marked your first encounter.
He wanted to reply with something sharp, out of habit, but there was so much unaccustomed tenderness in your eyes that he decided to soften his tone.
“For me?” Kang Soo asked cautiously.
You turned towards the window, trying to hide a faint smile.
“Don’t pretend you don’t understand.”
He approached from behind, stopping almost flush against you.
“Still, what are you trying to say?”
“I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but I think about you constantly,” you confessed quietly, finally turning to face him. “I don’t want this filth anymore. I like you, Kang Soo. The day we first met, something in me was reborn. I want to start all over again. And I’ll understand if you want nothing to do with me. My past isn’t easy to wash clean.”
For the first time in his life, Kang Soo had no idea what to say.
The next day, you sent him a set of coordinates. He arrived to find you in the basement of an abandoned warehouse. There were no expensive silks or stilettos — just a plain coat, and in your hands you held folders full of papers. You were personally burning the archives that tied you to the criminal world.
“Are you serious?” he asked, staring at the blazing fire.
You watched another page curl into ash.
“Not because of you. For you.”
He chuckled, but his voice no longer carried its former irony.
“To destroy an entire empire for one person… You’re insane.”
“You’re right. I am insane,” you laughed softly.
Kang Soo stepped forward and pulled you into a tight embrace. And as you pressed yourself against him, you knew with absolute certainty: if anyone in this city ever dared to touch him, you would
You were one of the guards in those brutal games — a faceless cog in a lethal machine, ruthlessly doing your job. You had never felt pity for the players. But when Kang Dae Ho appeared on the grounds, something inside you faltered.
He desperately tried to project confidence, but you noticed the little things: the way he smiled at everyone, how touchingly he looked after the pregnant girl, how hard he masked the fear that lived in every movement.
Dae Ho was different from the rest. He lacked the animal cruelty of those ready to kill for a portion of food, or the treachery of those who betrayed their friends. He was just an ordinary guy.
One question gnawed at you: what had brought him to this hell? His smile seemed impossible in this abyss — warm, genuine, like a ray of light in pitch-black darkness. How did he manage to hold onto his humanity in a place ruled by death?
One day, in an empty corridor, seizing a moment with no cameras or patrols nearby, you blocked his path.
“Player 388,” you said sternly.
“If you keep walking around with that doomed look on your face, you’ll be the first to die.” You glanced over your shoulder, checking for strangers. “I’ll help you get out of here.”
He stared at you, bewildered, as if trying to make out your face through the mask.
“You’re not like the others, and I can see it. The only one who hasn’t lost his humanity.”
You strode away quickly, before anyone could spot you.
Dae Ho didn’t believe what had happened at first. Risking your own life, you secretly helped him: slipping him hints about the next games while simultaneously working out an escape plan. You knew perfectly well what they would do to you if you were discovered, so you operated with surgical precision.
The plan seemed insane. During the riot that erupted among the players, you staged Dae Ho’s elimination, dressed him in a guard’s uniform you had hidden beforehand, and led him out through a network of disused service tunnels.
Together you emerged on the shore, where a boat you had prepared was rocking on the water. You had lied to your partner, telling him you were heading out on a solitary patrol.
“Go,” you ordered, pointing at the water.
He suddenly seized your wrist.
“No. If you did all this for me, I’m not leaving you here.”
And that was when you let yourself remove the mask and show your face for the first time. You had already broken every possible rule, so there was nothing left to lose.
“Kang Dae Ho,” you said quietly, “if you don’t sail away right now, they’ll shoot us both on this shore.”
“Then let’s run away together!”
You looked into his eyes. Dae Ho wasn’t a hero or the strongest player, but there was so much kindness in him that it was worth risking your life for. Gently but firmly, you nudged him towards the boat.
“I’ll find you. I promise.”
He wanted to say something more, but you had already turned and dashed back. Just before your escape, you had sneaked into the archive and dug up his details and exact address.
A few days after the island base was blown up and the games were shut down forever, you stood outside his home.
Dae Ho froze, unable to believe his eyes.
“You… you really found me?”
Instead of answering, you stepped forward, and he instantly pulled you into a desperate embrace.
“I promised,” you whispered, burying your nose in his shoulder and, for the first time in a long while, feeling safe.
At court, you were the woman before whom servants bowed and ministers turned pale. You were respected and feared for your colossal influence. One “no” from you, and people who had fallen out of favour would vanish from the hall forever.
When you first met Prince Wang Wook in the garden, he was absorbed in a book and didn’t even raise his head, completely ignoring your arrival.
“You neither bowed nor greeted me,” you said coldly.
Your voice sounded so haughty.
“You didn’t greet me either,” he replied calmly, turning a page.
It bordered on insolence, but it was precisely that defiance that caught your attention. You moved closer.
“Usually people start trembling when I use that tone.”
“Do you think that will make me afraid? I am a prince and I can stand up for myself.”
To your own surprise, you laughed — a laugh so bright and genuine. That chance conversation was where everything began.
Later, on one of those evenings when the palace was once again suffocated by an atmosphere of conspiracies, intrigues and gossip, you intercepted Wang Wook in a quiet corridor after a drawn-out assembly. He looked utterly exhausted.
“Wang Wook? You were silent all evening. Has something happened?”
“Sometimes silence is the only means of defence,” he answered softly.
“You don’t need to defend yourself with me,” you said gently. “I’ll listen to whatever is on your heart.”
Wang Wook looked at you in surprise, sensing not a trace of ill intent in your words. There was no selfish motive in you. He could feel it.
You talked together for a long time, walking through the palace gardens.
“You’re the only one who wasn’t afraid of me,” you broke the silence. “You know, my coldness is just armour. Living in the palace, I quickly understood that if you don’t protect yourself, you’ll be destroyed. You can’t show weakness, or you’ll be trampled.”
His palm touched your cheek, warm and gentle.
“You’re right,” Wook agreed. “Power makes people cruel.”
“It was so hard, wearing that mask all the time…”
“I’m glad you decided to open up to me. You’re remarkable.”
In that moment, it felt as though the whole universe held only the two of you — kindred spirits who had managed to find each other amid chaos, wars, and political intrigue. For the first time, someone in the palace saw you not as an arrogant figure, but as a lively, gentle woman.
You entered his life with the same confident grace you usually brought into the courtroom: without knocking, without a shadow of doubt, and with the absolute certainty that no one would dare stand in your way. In the elite apartment complex, you were known as a stern, even frightening woman — which was hardly surprising, given that you held the post of Prosecutor General. Neighbours would fall nervously silent the moment you stepped into the lift.
One evening, you ran into Woo Sung in the lobby. Irritation was written all over his face. You were already acquainted: he had once knocked on your door, trying to locate the source of endless noise in the building.
“Is it them again?” you inquired.
Woo Sung gave a bitter laugh. You lived in the penthouse with perfect soundproofing, so the domestic wars of other residents never touched you.
“It’s more than just noise now. It looks like the neighbours have declared war on me.”
You studied your neighbour carefully.
“Don’t worry. I’ll sort this out tomorrow.”
“I don’t think it’s that simple…”
“Nobody in this building will dare bother you again.”
“What?” Woo Sung looked at you in surprise, sensing there was something more behind your promise. And he was not mistaken.
The first time he visited your apartment, you poured him tea and served a home-cooked dinner. You watched in silence as he ate. He ate with such appetite, as if he hadn’t seen proper food in days. Despite the deep shadows under his eyes and the slight stubble, you caught yourself thinking he was devilishly handsome.
You kept your promise. Pulling your strings, you gave the troublemakers such a legal shake-up that soon the most scandalous residents were standing before you in your reception room, pale as if on the defendant’s bench. You sat in your chair, legs crossed, leafing through a folder of documented violations.
“So you are claiming that the source of the problems in the building is Noh Woo Sung?” you asked in a stern tone.
“You see, it’s a complicated matter…”
“No,” you cut in sharply. “There might be something to discuss if you had a single piece of evidence, but all I see is collective slander.”
Woo Sung, standing by the door, couldn’t suppress a triumphant smile.
When the frightened neighbours had left, you walked out onto the landing with him.
“Now there will be peace and quiet in this building,” you stated.
Woo Sung looked at you with such gratitude that you felt awkward.
“Why are you going to so much trouble for me?” he asked quietly.
“I can see how exhausted you are. You’ve lived too long believing you just had to endure it all. I’m sorry I didn’t step in sooner.”
Woo Sung peered at your softened features.
You took a step towards him, and unusually soft, tender notes crept into your voice:
“Even so, with the resources I have, I could have stopped this chaos much earlier.”
You embraced him, holding him tightly. And in that moment, Woo Sung understood completely: to everyone else you were the fearsome prosecutor who made people tremble, but to him you had become the one person beside whom he could simply feel at peace.
You were the outright owner of the largest underground casino in the city. Everything glittered with luxury and gold, but the establishment’s true jewel was you. You always wore impeccably expensive suits, carried yourself with perfect poise, and your expression never wavered, even with a gun aimed at you. In criminal circles, it was whispered that the casino owner never lost and had no weaknesses.
Kim Yo Han came to your club undercover, running his own investigation. You made him instantly — his guarded, watchful behaviour stood out too sharply against the thrill-seeking crowd.
“What brings such a handsome man here?” you asked, approaching his table. “I see you’re a new guest.”
“Just looking to unwind,” Yo Han replied, striving to keep his composure.
You merely smirked. You could read a lie like that in a heartbeat.
A little later, you found him in a secluded VIP lounge, studying the players intently, searching for someone.
“You don’t look anything like our usual patrons,” you said quietly from behind him.
Yo Han visibly tensed. But your aim wasn’t to frighten him. You wanted to understand what exactly he was looking for. You summoned him to your office.
“Your real purpose?” you asked sternly, closing the door of your third-floor office.
“I already told you. Just to play a few hands of poker.”
“You need help,” you said, taking a seat at the desk. “You’re looking for someone, and it’s painfully obvious.”
“Don’t lie to me,” you cut him off. “Tell me the truth, and I’ll help you.”
Yo Han hesitated, weighing the risks. You gestured to the chair opposite you.
“Sit. Don’t worry, I don’t bite. Unless, of course, you try to lie to me again.”
Yo Han took a photograph from his pocket and handed it to you. You picked up the picture, studying the man’s face.
“What did he do?” you asked without looking up.
“He’s stalking my grandmother,” his voice trembled almost imperceptibly. “And he kidnapped me once before.”
“Kidnapped?” You lifted your gaze in surprise, not expecting such drama from this young man. “Do you want me to get rid of him?”
“No. I want him to go to prison. According to the law. Please help me. You promised, if I told the truth.”
You looked intently into his weary eyes.
“I’ll help. But nothing is done for free in my casino.”
“What do you want? Money?”
You rose from your chair, walked over to the panoramic window, and, turning back, gave a soft smile.
“I want you to have dinner with me tomorrow evening.”
“Are you joking?” he said, taken aback.
You met in an unremarkable little restaurant on the outskirts of the city. None of your people knew about this meeting; for the first time, you arrived without your security. You handed him a flash drive containing CCTV footage and all the information your security team had dug up overnight.
Thanks to those leads, Yo Han quickly caught the scumbag, and his family was safe at last.
A few days later, Yo Han crossed the threshold of your casino again. But this time, not as an undercover detective — as a man who simply could not forget the owner of the establishment in her luxurious black dress.
“I’m in your debt,” he said quietly, walking up to you.
“Then allow me to invite you to a second dinner.”
A mischievous smile touched your lips.
“Did you really enjoy dining with me that much?” you teased.
For the first time, Yo Han smiled openly and warmly.
“I’d like to see you a lot more often.”
“The feeling is mutual, Yo Han.”