So I said I'll update in two day but then a lecturer of mine just recently died so I'll be going for the burial service.
So I'll drop all the draft I have now, I'll appreciate it if you like my novel.
Thank you 😊
The heavy door glided shut, cutting off the deafening roar of the tarmac and plunging the van’s luxurious interior into a suffocating, leather-scented silence.
​Ji-won sat frozen on the plush seat, trembling so hard his teeth chattered against his lower lip. He stared at his wrist, still encircled by Lu Sheng’s long, immaculate fingers. Tears spilled over his lower lashes, dropping onto the pastel blue fabric of his hoodie.
​"P-Please," Ji-won choked out, his voice small, terrified, and utterly broken. "Lu Sheng... if you do this, they’ll destroy everything to find me. Min-jun Hyung won't stop. Do-hyun will lose his mind. I can't... I can't watch them tear themselves apart..."
​Lu Sheng didn't move. His dark, impenetrable gaze remained fixed on Ji-won’s tear-stained face, tracking the silent tremor of his lip and the raw, suffocating panic radiating from every inch of his small frame.
​For a long, agonizing second, the silence stretched thin enough to snap.
​Then, Lu Sheng’s jaw flexed.
​A sharp, uncharacteristic flicker of frustration flashed across his cold features—not anger at the delay, but a deep, irritating annoyance at the undeniable, pathetic softness settling in his own chest. He hated the way Ji-won looked at him right now: not just as a monster, but as a storm that was going to ruin his fragile little world.
​He didn't want a shell of a boy. He didn't want a broken, terrified mess who would spend every second in his cage staring at the door, waiting for his brothers to burn the city down to get him back.
​Lu Sheng let out a slow, heavy breath and abruptly released Ji-won's wrist, tossing his hand back as if he had been burned.
​"You are an insufferable, bleeding-heart idiot, Ji-won-ah," Lu Sheng said, his tone biting, though the icy lethality from seconds ago had noticeably softened into a bitter scowl. He reached over, picked up his crystal glass, and drained the rest of his whiskey in one smooth gulp. "Look at you. You’re practically hyperventilating over a pair of luggage tags."
​Ji-won blinked through his tears, dazed. "W-What...?"
​"Get out," Lu Sheng ordered coldly, tapping a button on the armrest.
​The hydraulic door glided open once more, letting in the cool sea breeze and the blinding morning light.
​Ji-won stared at the open doorway, then back at Lu Sheng, completely utterly bewildered. "You're... you're letting me go?"
​"I am granting you a seven-day reprieve," Lu Sheng corrected, turning his head to look out the tinted window, refusing to meet Ji-won's wide, disbelieving eyes. "Go to Hawaii. Drink your ridiculous coconut smoothies. Smile for your brother's stupid vacation photos."
​He reached into his breast pocket, pulled out his phone, and tapped the screen once.
​BZZZ.
​Ji-won’s phone vibrated in his hoodie pocket. He pulled it out with shaking hands. The engine diagnostic override alert on the screen cleared, returning the Kang family's jet controls to normal status.
​"Because the moment you land back in Incheon next Thursday," Lu Sheng whispered, his voice dangerously low as he finally turned back to look at Ji-won, his eyes dark with a heavy, possessive promise, "your debt comes due in full. No brothers. No Hawaiian diversions. Am I clear?"
​Ji-won swallowed the lump in his throat, a massive, overwhelming wave of relief washing over him so hard he almost collapsed right there on the floorboards. He nodded frantically, scrambling backward out of the van and landing on his feet on the cold tarmac.
​"Thank you... thank you, Lu Sheng," Ji-won whispered, his voice genuinely breathless.
​Lu Sheng smirked, a dark, faintly amused glint returning to his eyes as he watched Ji-won adjust his fluffy bucket hat with frantic hands. "Don't thank me yet, little angel. And Ji-won-ah?"
​Ji-won paused, looking back over his shoulder.
​"If you wear a shirt that hideous in Maui, I might actually intercept the plane just out of spite."
​Ji-won flushed bright crimson, biting his lip as the van door slid shut and the armored vehicle smoothly pulled away into the shadows of Hangar 4.
​Ji-won stood on the tarmac for three full seconds, catching his breath, before turning around and sprinting as fast as his legs could carry him back toward the VIP terminal service door.
​He burst through the steel door, nearly knocking over a flight attendant, and skidded into the lounge just as Min-jun was hanging up his phone.
​"Where on earth were you?!" Do-hyun yelled, practically diving across the room to grab Ji-won by the shoulders, inspecting him from head to toe. "You were gone for eight whole minutes! I was about to order an emergency sweep of the bathrooms!"
​"I... I got turned around!" Ji-won lied breathlessly, pressing a hand to his racing heart as he gave Do-hyun a soft, apologetic smile. "The hallway was confusing!"
​Min-jun walked over, his sharp eyes narrowing slightly as he took in Ji-won's flushed cheeks and disheveled sweater, but after a long moment, he simply sighed and patted Ji-won's head. "Boarding is starting. Let's go."
​As the four brothers walked down the jet bridge toward the waiting plane—Do-hyun still arguing with Ji-ho about whether pineapple belongs on pizza—Ji-won touched the phone hidden in his pocket.
​He was safe. His family was safe. For seven days, he had his freedom.
​And as he stepped into the cabin, looking out at the sun rising over the runway, Ji-won realized with a strange, twisting feeling in his chest that Lu Sheng, despite all his terrifying power, had let him walk away for the one thing he refused to admit: he actually cared.
Update will be in 2 days, stay tuned like and drop a review. Thank you 😊