The night split open with another distant scream.
Tae Hyun grabbed Shin Hye's arm sharply.
Tae Hyun: (low voice)
"Stay back. I'll go first."
But before he could move forward, Shin Hye pressed a hand flat against his chest.
Her touch was light — almost gentle — but her stare froze him.
Shin Hye: (whispered coldly)
"No. I'll handle this."
Silent, she slid her hand back to the gun holstered under her jacket — tucked low near her spine — and stepped into the darkness, calm but electric.A little ahead, a scene unfolded:
Four men — mid-30s to 40s — dirty faces, wild eyes.
Behind them, a young girl barely in her twenties, slumped against the wall, blood smudged across her face.
Shin Hye's steps slowed. Her body stayed still, but her eyes — those black, bottomless eyes — widened, just slightly.
The men turned toward her.
One, gripping a rusted knife, sneered and stepped closer.
Man 1:
"Get lost, bitch. You don't wanna end up worse than her."
Shin Hye tilted her head — a slow, strange tilt — her expression still empty as she was trying to. understand the situation, but her eyes sparkling strangly with anger and craziness.
She looked insane — and like fire.
Danger dripped from her silence.The man growled, advancing.
Man 1: (spitting)
"Are you deaf? Move, or I'll carve you open!"
Without blinking, Shin Hye smiled.
Not a normal smile —
A twitchy, crooked smirk —
the smile of someone who enjoyed the thought of breaking bones.
The girl behind the men whimpered softly.
Something inside Shin snapped.
The man lunged.
But Shin Hye's body exploded into motion.
In a blink, she dodged sideways, grabbing his wrist, twisting it with a sickening crack —
KNEEED him straight into the face.
Blood sprayed.
The man staggered, screaming.She spun around —
Spinning side kick — her heavy boots slammed across his temple.
He hit the ground hard, twitching.
The other three men rushed at once.
Tae Hyun stepped forward to intercept, fists already flying, but Shin Hye smirked—
an unhinged, low, spine-chilling smile.
She welcomed the chaos.
A second man swung a metal pipe at her —
She ducked effortlessly, driving her elbow into his ribs, shattering them.
Before he fell, she spun again —
Jumping hook kick —
Her boot crushed against his jaw with a brutal snap.
Blood flecked the walls.
But then,
— just for a fleeting second —
Shin Hye's eyes caught the trembling leg of the battered girl behind the men.
She froze.
Not from fear —
but from something far more dangerous for someone like her:
a memory.
A memory of her own body once trembling like that... helpless... small.
Her smirk faded,
the monster inside her blinked.
Only for a breath.
And then, as if the sight had fueled her rage instead of softening her,
she smirked herself back into the fight — fiercer, faster, deadlier.
The crack in her humanity was sealed instantly.
Now, she wasn't just fighting —
she was hunting.
Another man lunged with a broken bottle —
She caught his arm mid-air, wrenched it backward and broke it.
He screamed,
She silenced him with a punch straight through his throat.
The last one hesitated — trembling, knife shaking in hand.
Shin Hye stared at him, her face blank now, cold and dangerous, with dark black eyes staring through his soul —
Her boots clicked as she stepped closer, slow... deliberate... like a beast savoring the kill.
He screamed and lunged for her.
Wrong move.
She caught him mid-attack, grabbed his head — and with one swift, brutal twist —
SNAP.
His body crumbled at her feet.
Silence returned.
Only the girl's soft sobbing filled the air.
Tae Hyun stood there, panting slightly, his hands bloodied from his own fight.
But Shin Hye?
She wiped the blood splattered across her cheek with the back of her hand —
then she casted a strange smirk as a maniac devil.
The girl covered her eyes with trembling hands, unable to watch anymore.
The Devil in Shin Hye had finally peeked out...