The pink butterfly found itself hovering above a public fountain in the late morning. A crowd gathered around the scene, murmuring in shock. Sirens wailed as an emergency hovercraft made a swift landing.
"Su-hyun! Doctor—please, help my wife!" a middle-aged man shouted, clutching a limp woman whose nose was pouring blood. Paramedics rushed forward, lifting her onto a stretcher.
The pink butterfly watched it all unfold. Then, without hesitation, it took off above the park and headed toward the school soccer field, where a young boy sat scribbling lyrics into his notebook. Suddenly, the school announcement echoed through the speakers.
"Attention, Woo Seokjin. Your parent has arrived and is waiting for you at the cafeteria."
Startled, the boy shut his notebook and hurried off. When he arrived, he found his father seated, hands clasped, whispering a prayer under his breath. He finally looked up.
"Son..."
"Yes, Dad," the boy replied, already wearing a troubled expression. His father swallowed hard and forced a weak smile.
"Your mother… she wants to see you."
Seokjin nodded. "I already know. She told me."
He blinked—and now he was standing before the OPP4 building. A wounded butterfly crawled desperately toward his shoes. It was the moment of truth.
Now, Lucky and I had arrived at our target location. Strong winds howled through the night, thunder cracking above even though the rain had stopped. A bolt of lightning struck the top of the rooftop antenna.
"She's coming here for sure," I muttered to the blue-haired boy beside me.
"I'd bet on it. That woman—she plays games with powerful people. If she exposes everything, she loses her thrill. But if she's managed to access the company's confidential data, she could spill everything." Lucky's tone sharpened. "The server is sealed tight. You can't hack it from the outside. It has to be someone inside."
He glanced my way. "From what Li Hong told me, accounting staff often work overtime until 9 p.m. That's our window. We watch whoever's closest to the server room—only they would have a chance to steal and hand off data directly. There'll be CCTV blind spots—signal interference. And when that happens…"
He stared me dead in the eyes.
"We move in. Hard and fast."
"Damn, you should've been a detective," I said with a laugh.
"Not my thing," he smirked.
"So why'd you become an idol?"
Lucky hugged his knees tight, thinking. "Truth is, I never wanted this. I just… needed the money. Someday, to go home."
"You still can't go back?"
He turned his back to me. That's when I noticed the black fanged tattoo, etched beside the code 'L (11/9)'.
"That mark isn't ink…" I pressed my hand against it.
"Ga-een Stars. That's the name my foster family gave me. I was born from a genetic engineering project. Most of us didn't survive. I did—but as a failed experiment. Before they shut down the program, they sold me here. Didn't even learn to walk before they trained me as a trainee."
"And you've known this all along?"
"Even after they rewrote my bio and messed with my memory… something inside always knew." He paused. "I made a deal. I work for her—she gives me the truth. She's already got her hands on the files."
"If she exposes you, this whole company's doomed."
"Secrets never stay hidden forever. They'll surface one day, no matter how hard they try. Anyway—time's running out. Let's move."
We walked toward the company entrance. Lucky flashed a pinky finger at the guard. "Yo, Siwon~ Forgot something today?"
We breezed right through.
"Li Hong sent us to pick up some documents," I said coolly.
Lucky snapped his fingers sharply beside me, as if adding emphasis.
"Huh! You idols… always so dramatic," Siwon chuckled.
Lucky lifted his smartwatch, linking it to the building's security feed. He scanned the server room footage.
"You look too," he said, handing me the display. "I might've missed something."
As I pushed the elevator button, I asked, "Is anyone still inside?"
"Only a few. Most staff leave before 8:30. We've got 30 minutes. After that, they cut power to the whole building—except the guest lounges and the server room."
Suddenly, his watch buzzed. Jinam's voice echoed:
"Siwon. You're in the building, right?"
"Yes. Checking the server room. Nothing off so far."
"…You know what to do if something happens." The call cut off.
We used the elevator up to the 15th floor, where the IT office connected to the server room. The doors slid open to reveal a dimly lit space with only two employees still working under the faint light of a ceiling lamp. Ahead of us, a red glow radiated ominously from a hallway corner.
"That red light—that's the server room. But you'll need a keycard to get in," Lucky said.
"Those two must have access," I muttered, and headed straight into the office. The two employees immediately looked up, eyes wide in surprise.
"Wait—are you… White? The real White?" they stammered, scrambling to their feet as Lucky stepped in behind me.
"Gentlemen, may I check your IDs?" Lucky asked, calm and polite, scanning their badges to confirm their legitimacy.
"S-sure, here you go," one of them said, handing the card over shakily. "Honestly, we're not used to seeing Siwon talk much, so this feels kinda weird, haha."
Lucky nodded, eyes on them. "Mind if I ask—why are you still here? It's Friday night. "
"Oh, we've got a couple of system issues on the website. Buggy stuff," they explained. That's when Lucky clapped his hands sharply.
"Let me help," he grinned. "Might get you home quicker."
He sat down at their desk and immediately started typing—fast. Faster than either of them could follow. Sweat formed on their brows as they watched, exhausted.
Meanwhile, I casually checked the other employee's station. He had a tab minimized—security camera feed. Curious, I reopened it while they were distracted. I compared it to the holoscreen feed I'd been carrying.
The office feed showed a man dressed in black, wandering around the server room. But my holoscreen feed? Completely still—like it was looping the same frame.
I sent the footage to Lucky instantly.
Click! He pressed the final key to reboot the system.
"All done. You're free to go," he smiled.
"Woah… that was fast. If we had ten of you, we'd lose our jobs for sure!" one of them laughed nervously, packing up. He slipped a keycard into his jacket.
"Wait," Lucky said suddenly, holding up the server footage. The two men froze at the door, hands gripping the handle.
"I—I can explain…"
Lucky pointed at the first one. "Your heart's been pounding since we got here. You're sweating like you just ran a marathon. And you—" he pointed at the other one— "You've been here three years and still can't debug basic floating text? Either you're incompetent or you're stalling me. So tell me—who paid you to do this?"
I grinned behind Lucky. "You two just hit self-destruct. Curious how much they offered, but we're out of time. Hand over the keycard. Might get you a nice severance package after tonight."
Their faces hardened. One set his bag down carefully, then locked the office door from the inside.
"We're not doing this for money…" the first one said, gripping a chair. "…we just want justice."
He hurled the chair at Lucky. Bam!
Lucky's fist shot forward, smashing it mid-air—the splintered frame flew backward and struck the man square in the chest. Meanwhile, the second employee seized his moment. He leapt on my back, arm locked around my neck.
"My friend got fired. He's buried in debt. This damn company pays me pennies—I'm top of my class! But Chon Ji-a speaks for people like us—crushed under your boots!"
He squeezed harder. I choked out words.
"Hng—s-so this is what you trade everything for?"
"You'd do the same," he spat.
While he ranted, I saw a stapler within reach. I grabbed it and fired. Tack tack tack!
"Arrggh!" He loosened his hold. I threw him across the table, slammed him down, and punched him square in the jaw.
"Damn—you cling like a monkey," I muttered, shaking my hand out.
Right then, Lucky pulled the keycard off the downed man and sprinted toward the hallway.
"Hey—wait up!" I called, throwing myself after him.
Beep!
We rushed into the server room. A black-clad body lay crumpled against the wall as if thrown with force. Lucky was already hacking into the intruder's old laptop, fingers flying.
"We too late?" I asked, breathless.
"A brute force attack. He's patching through a p2p signal. 60% of the data's already been sent. We might've come late—but not too late to stop it." Lucky cut off the transfer and began tracing the signal.
"Got it," he whispered.
"That was… way too easy," I said, uneasy.
"Wait!" Lucky's voice cracked. "There's a message coming through—"
"What?"
I spun toward the screen. A message appeared in bold type:
'Oh wow—so you tracked me down, huh? Congratulations Of course you did. Lucky, you've always been sharp. So calm down—I've already sent the invitations to you two princes. Don't worry. Let's move to the Final Act of this little fairy tale. I'd hate to bore you. But I'll remind you once—if even one cop or anyone who isn't on my guest list shows up, all your precious secrets go public. We clear? Good See you soon, my princes.'
Seconds later—bzzt.
The laptop sparked, then exploded in smoke, destroying itself.
I clenched my fist tightly. "It's time to catch the bastard."
"Don't let your guard down just yet. We might be walking into a trap—and the two of us are clearly exactly what she wants. We should take a moment to think this through—"
Thud!
Every light beyond the glass cut out, plunging the hallway into darkness. Only then did we realize—it was already past 8 p.m.
"Damn it! We don't have time, Lucky! If we want to end this, we do it now. Before anyone else gets hurt because of us. I know you and I can do this—just trust me!"
Lucky stared at me—then nodded. "Understood. Let's go."
We stepped out of the office just as a security guard came rushing up the stairs, panting heavily—the elevators had shut down minutes ago.
"H-Hah… I saw on the cameras… what the hell happened in there…?" he wheezed, eyes wide at the sight of three unconscious men sprawled across the floor.
"Call the police. Our own employees just committed corporate espionage," I said, patting his shoulder before heading out.
A pink butterfly slipped through a cracked window and fluttered into the stormy night sky. The clouds hung low and heavy, rain pouring through the wind. It flew against the storm, toward a long-abandoned shopping mall in Yongsan. Once there, it landed at the back entrance—blocked by a rotting wooden chair—before getting crushed under a boot.
Lucky and I arrived moments later. The address from the message led us here. My blue-haired partner kicked the broken chair away to clear a path. We switched on our flashlights, following the emergency lights that lined the narrow service corridor, leading us straight through to the central hall.
"Why here, of all places?" I asked.
"I don't know either. Maybe it's some kind of… sentimental message," Lucky replied.
"This mall's been shut down for eight years. The city planned to tear it down, but nothing ever happened," I explained, pushing through the final set of doors.
The grand hall spread before us—rainwater dripping through shattered glass ceilings into a murky fountain below. Every storefront was sealed shut, and two dead escalators framed the space, leading up into the darkness.
The rain slowed, leaving only the echo of dripping water and wind whistling through broken panes.
Then, a voice boomed through the empty space.
"Well, well—took you long enough, boys! You left this princess waiting. But a promise is a promise Ya ya~ Though I must say, the signal's pretty bad here, huh?"
Lucky scanned the walls and noticed blinking red lights mounted along them.
"Military-grade magnetic dome," he murmured. "Blocks any signal transmission. I'm guessing she got this from downstairs."
"Boa! Get out here!" I shouted.
"We all know none of us wanted it to come to this," Lucky called out.
"Oh, Lucky Stars, darling~ You still don't get it, do you? Let me spell it out for you."
A figure appeared on the third-floor balcony—a woman with jet-black hair, facing away from us. She tossed something down.
It was a photograph. A family portrait. When I picked it up, my chest tightened.
"H-how… where did you get this."
"Does it matter?" she laughed. "The real question is—do you still remember them?"
She paused. Then her tone shifted. "Years ago, back when I was young and restless—working reception at a little hotel in Gwangjin—I met that old man." She chuckled. "Checked in under the name… Woo Taewon, I think? Reeked of booze, pockets full of crumpled bills. He asked for the cheapest room. Looked like he had nowhere else to go."
I threw the photo down, trembling. "What do you know about him?!"
Lucky picked it up, glancing at me. "The Woo family…" he murmured, holding the rain-soaked photo.
"So I chatted him up—asked about his life. He goes on about how proud he is of his sons. Said one was gonna be a doctor, the other a lawyer." A cruel laugh echoed. "But I knew he was lying. He knew his sons were failures. Mhaha!"
I didn't wait. I bolted, lunging up the broken escalator steps.
"White—don't!" Lucky shouted—but my rage drowned out every other sound.
"That old man confessed everything—how he failed them, how they turned out nothing like he'd hoped. Wanna know what I said to him? I told him it was okay. That he'd wasted his life raising useless sons from bad fucking."
My footsteps pounded—heart hammering. "And you know what he said?" she continued, voice dripping with mock sympathy. "He just said 'I'm sorry.'"
"Shut. UP!" I roared, leaping onto the second floor and searching for the next set of stairs.
"'I'm sorry'—such a loser's quote, don't you think? Pathetic. After that, he killed himself in the bathtub. Honestly, it was for the best. He was too weak. Just another coward who ran from his kids and his mistakes. So tell me, Mr. White—are you a coward just like him?"
"I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!"
"That's it… come to me, my prince~ Shake off that idol veneer and embrace me."
"White, stop!" Lucky sprinted up and grabbed my arm. "Listen to me… she's trying to mess with your head."
"Don't get in my way," I snarled, swinging him into the wall—but he caught himself and pinned me to the floor in return.
"Even if everything she said is true, that doesn't mean you should throw away everything you've worked for. If you lose control now, everything you built could end—and she'll be the one to cut the cord."
I forced myself to breathe, to listen. I stopped fighting.
"…You still have your ball-phone on you?" Lucky asked quietly.
"Yeah."
I handed it over.
"New model. Silent mode." He tapped a command into it, and the device detached, floating into the air like a drone. Then we continued up the stairs toward the third floor.
"Aww, what's wrong, sweetheart? Did Lucky smack you around~? I'll let you press charges," Boa cooed.
"Boa. If you come out and delete the data right now, we can end this without going to court," I said, keeping my voice steady—Lucky silently signalling me from the side.
"But this data's too valuable, babe. And the company sure wants it more than I do. Should I sell it or just drop it online? Hmm… decisions."
"You know how this ends. You're signing your own death warrant."
"Ah~ but darling, even if I die, no one will remember me anyway. I don't belong anywhere. Just like Lucky." She paused. "I mean psychologically, of course."
Lucky froze.
"He didn't tell you, did he? He doesn't have parents. Just a kid sold to the company by traffickers—brand new profile and everything. But you know what's alike between you two?"
Lucky's eyes lifted slowly toward the dark silhouette of Boa, sitting with her back to us on the third floor. "You're both OPP4's products."
Everything happened at once.
As we got closer, he sprinted up the broken escalator in a single leap, using my back as leverage. Boa barely turned in time before he grabbed her by the collar. I rushed up after him—just in case—but as we slammed the figure down—
It was the face of a terrified old lady.
"Mother of mercy~!" the woman shrieked, scrambling to her feet and bolting into the shadows.
"…What the hell…" I muttered, stepping back—and right into a guard rail that felt dangerously loose.
"It's a trap!" Lucky's eyes went wide. He looked over my shoulder—and I caught the faint rose-colored glow of my ball-phone.
"Look out!" I turned—just in time to catch a streak of bright pink light rushing toward me. I stumbled—over the broken railing.
It gave way.
"No~" Lucky caught my arm just in time. Footsteps echoed behind us. Sharp, slow, and deliberate.
High heels.
"Don't let go!" Lucky yelled, gripping me tightly. "Urgh—!"
His eyes widened. Something sharp had struck him from behind.
"Hold on tight, now~" a familiar voice whispered behind him. I saw Boa leaning over the edge, heel digging into Lucky's back as she pressed down and twisted.
"Even if Lucky falls, he'll survive. But you?" She smirked. "That's a different story, Mr. White."
"You… you were behind Iris too!" I shouted, struggling against gravity.
"He knew too much. Had to keep things clean and efficient, you know? But even when he tried, he couldn't hide from me." She knelt on Lucky's back now, gripping his hair and yanking his head back. "Funny, right? A whole company brought down by one single lady~ Mheheha"
Lucky strained, holding onto me, pain etched across his face as her heel dug deeper.
"You think you can fix me, you blue-haired freak?" Boa sneered, voice low, venomous. "I live for the day I watch people like you break. Those corporate fools hated each other, it didn't take long to turn them. They handed me everything—all the data you tried to recover. And now? I've got a Plan B." She leaned close to Lucky's ear. "But first~ don't drop him."
I saw my ball-phone floating just below us—still recording, still live.
Lucky shouted in pain.
"Boa! Stop!" I yelled.
"Oh? Begging now, sweetheart? Last time you begged me, it was so you could expose Gong Min-jun and climb the ranks. Still not even for that, hmm? So tell me—are you begging for Lucky's sake… or because you don't want to die?"
Lucky's eyes snapped to mine—hurt, betrayal, agony—like the truth had finally reached him right where it could never be taken back.
The girl nodded, waiting for what I had to say. "Fuckin' snake!" I shouted, flicking a finger toward her. My ball-phone shot upward and slammed into her face, sending her sprawling—giving Lucky just enough time to pull me back up. I grabbed her pink ball-phone from her hand and smashed it to the floor.
"You've been lying to me all along," Lucky said, standing over the woman whose mouth was smeared with blood.
She laughed as she slowly rose to her feet. "Men like you are too naive. If you really wanted to be my friend—would you die for me, Lucky?"
"It's over," Lucky said flatly. She had nothing left up her sleeve.
Just then, an alert sounded from her wristwatch.
"No—it's not," Boa hissed, looking at a CCTV feed she had installed at the mall entrance—police officers were swarming in. Panic flashed across her face before she raised her wrist, tapping frantically. "It's too late for you now. All the dirty secrets are finally going public. Enjoy your last big bonus—and say goodbye to your pretty rep' Mhehe!" She held up her watch, showing the progress of an upload bar labeled with the company's stolen classified data.
From her side of the glass, she grinned wide. "We're cut from the same cloth, aren't we, Mr. White?"
98.87% uploaded—then suddenly: #### CONNECTION INTERRUPTED ####
Your Internet connection is unavailable at the moment.
"Okay, ...shit...." she said
"Great. Could've warned me sooner, kid," a man muttered as he stepped out of the shadows, holding up a satellite network phone. "Lucky thing this kid's ball-phone sent me a signal. Otherwise, we'd be screwed."
"Oh, so the rich boy decided to show up—" Boa didn't finish. A sharp slap cut her off mid-sentence.
"My fillers aren't cheap, you bastard!" she snarled through swollen lips. Jinam crouched down, grabbing her hair and yanking her head up while pulling a gun from behind his jacket.
"You think I'm like that old man?" he said, tightening his grip and forcing her to look into his blazing red eyes.
Boa met his gaze defiantly, breathing hard. "...How manly. Daddy must be so proud."
Her words cut sharp as razors. Jinam cocked the gun, ready to fire.
"Hit the snake, hit it dead. But even if you kill me, daddy'll drag you out anyway, won't he?" Boa sneered. "Mhmhmh…"
Jinam exhaled slowly. "You've got some nerve." He lowered the gun. "But sorry—not me. I'll never be that old man."
Her smile finally faded, leaving only cold, soulless black in her eyes.
"That's why daddy was right. You're boring. A stuck-up poser—hollow on the inside."
"Trash like you should be grateful we're only locking you up. Once the truth's out, this country will spit you out completely," Jinam said, handing her over to the officers. Before long, reporters flooded the police station along with crowds of curious onlookers. After giving our statements, Lucky and I stepped outside. I exhaled deeply.
"It's over…" I muttered, glancing back into the interrogation room. Boa sat cuffed to a metal table, nerves starting to show.
"I had no intent to harm anyone," she cried. "It was Mr. Woo who attacked me—he threw a drone right at my face!"
"Lying bitch… hallucinations aren't a legal defense, you know…" I scoffed.
"We don't have any evidence of Mr. Woo assaulting you, however—we do have proof of your attempt to extort the company with stolen data."
"Then what am I supposed to do now~? Are the police allowed to bully helpless women like me?" she whined.
Next to me, Lucky turned. "So that story about Mr. Min-jun… and how you approached her… that was true, wasn't it?"
I sighed. "Lucky, I didn't mean it like that. I just…"
"Just tell me—was it the fame that made you this way?"
"I don't even understand myself sometimes! I was jealous—okay? I never meant to hurt anyone."
"If you keep heading down this path… then you and Boa are no different," he said quietly. "I'm worried about you, Woo Seok Jin. It's not too late to turn back."
He stepped away, leaving me alone in the hallway. I looked through the one-way glass again. Boa lifted her face and smirked right at me.
"Some people try to fix what isn't broken. Some change for the better. Some jump into the pit and enjoy the fall. Even if I could go back, I'd still choose to be myself. Know who you are, and you'll never regret it. You're not just a kid with issues, Mr. White. You're desperate to be the best—and I love that about you," she said, her voice cold but earnest.
Suddenly—the news blared from a TV on the wall.
"Breaking news! Mr. White has now risen to #1 in D8, followed by Lucky Siwon at #2. The two idols who exposed the real Cheon Ji-ae are now being hailed as heroes—restoring OPP4's reputation!"
Boa chuckled behind the glass. "Funny how good I am at spinning people, huh? I kept my promise~ Showbiz is like a fairytale—you rescue a princess, you get the crown. Boring. So I flipped the script. The prince kills her on the tower steps—then takes the throne himself. That's D8's philosophy. Constant competition. Claw your way to the top. Lucky and Li-hong could never do it… but you have. Congratulations, Mr. Number One." Her mouth was covered with dried blood, she blew a kiss through the glass. "Mwah~"
When I stepped out, fans cheered my name, screaming that I had defeated Boa. But I didn't feel like I'd won at all. Slowly…it hit me. Every move Boa made had been deliberate—every sympathy card, every piece of evidence, every narrow escape… all leading to me.
She had made sure the world would bet on me.
That I would take everything D8 had left to offer.
"White, You're our number one! Aaaahhhh!!"
In the end, the one who destroyed the D8 family…
…was me.
Ding-dong~
"Attention, Woo Seokjin. Your parent has arrived and is waiting for you at the cafeteria."
Startled, the boy shut his notebook and hurried off. When he arrived, he found his father seated, hands clasped, whispering a prayer under his breath. He finally looked up.
"Son..."
"Yes, Dad," the boy replied, already wearing a troubled expression. His father swallowed hard and forced a weak smile.
"Your mother… she wants to see you."
The kid nodded. "She already told me… about everything." At those words, his father raised a trembling hand to cover his mouth. A tear slid from his left eye.
"I'm sorry, son… I should've worked harder. Earned more. I failed you both."
Just then, a voice drifted over from behind one of the cafeteria pillars. "Crying won't fix anything, Dad. It's just a rough patch—no one's dying."A young man stepped into view, guitar slung over his shoulder, wearing a calm smile.
"Come on. Let's pick up some veggies for Mom."