Whispers of the Underworld (SunSun)

Chapter 16

#Park Sunghoon

The cold night air hit me as I stepped out of Sunoo’s building, but it did nothing to cool the simmering fire in my chest. I adjusted my suit jacket and made my way to the sleek black car waiting for me at the curb. The driver opened the door without a word, his head bowed slightly—a man who knew his place and his purpose.

I slid into the backseat, the leather cold against my hands as I rested them on my thighs. The door clicked shut, and the moment it did, the carefully maintained mask of civility dropped. The air around me grew heavier, colder, as if the very space bent to accommodate the shift in my mood.

“Drive,” I ordered curtly, my voice sharp enough to cut through steel. The driver obeyed immediately, pulling away from the curb and into the dimly lit streets.

I reached for my phone, the device a direct line to the network of power I had meticulously built. As it rang, I stared out the window, my gaze cold and detached as the city lights blurred past. The Takamotos thought they could waltz into my territory, sit at a table with my Sunoo, and walk away unscathed? Their arrogance would cost them.

The call connected.

“The Takamotos,” I said, my voice low and venomous. “I don’t want them in the country anymore.”

There was a pause on the other end, followed by a quiet, “Understood, sir.”

“Make sure no one makes a deal with them. Not here, not anywhere. They’re untouchable now—not because of their strength, but because no one will dare associate with them.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And before they leave, give them a little present,” I added, the faintest hint of a smile tugging at my lips. “Nothing lethal. Just something to remind them of what happens when they overstep.”

The voice on the other end didn’t hesitate. “Consider it done.”

I ended the call and tossed the phone onto the seat beside me, leaning back with a quiet sigh. The city passed by in a blur, but my mind was elsewhere—on Sunoo, on the fire in his eyes when he confronted me. He was furious, yes, but he would come to understand.

Sunoo was smart, resourceful, and fiercely independent. It was one of the things that drew me to him, but it was also what made him so frustrating. He didn’t see the bigger picture yet, didn’t understand the lengths I would go to for him.

He would.

He was mine, whether he realized it or not.

My phone buzzed beside me, drawing me out of my thoughts. I picked it up and saw a text from one of my informants.

"Update on Kim Jinyun. Found him. Sending details now."

I stared at the message, my mind already calculating the next steps. Kim Jinyun was a loose end, a shadow that loomed over Sunoo and his past. It was a shadow I intended to snuff out, but not before it served its purpose.

I smiled, a dark, humorless thing, as I typed out a reply.

"Good. Keep me updated."

The driver glanced at me in the rearview mirror, his expression carefully neutral.

“Back to the penthouse, sir?” he asked.

“No,” I said, slipping my phone back into my pocket. “Take me to the docks.”

The driver didn’t question it. He never did.

As the car turned toward the edge of the city, I let my thoughts drift back to Sunoo. His anger, his defiance—it was intoxicating. But beneath it, I saw the flicker of fear, the hesitation.