"Straight to the point." He chuckled. "Very Shin of you, or do you simply think I'm not worth wasting another second on?"
"Cut the crap." Shin's cold gaze never wavered. "Either say it... or don't."
Bryce folded his arms, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. "Don't you want to know first who sent those messages while I'm locked up in here?"
Instead of answering, Shin calmly recited an address, a name.
Finally, he added, "He was eating noodles when he was found an hour ago."
Bryce's smug expression cracked, his smile stiffened.
He had clearly never expected Shin to locate one of his operatives so quickly.
"Well, why should I tell you?" Bryce sneered. "I could just have someone post everything online instead. Just imagine... the future wife of the great Shin Keir having those photos exposed for the whole world to see."
Shin's gaze never left Bryce's eyes. "What do you want?"
Bryce let out a cold laugh.
"What do I want?" he repeated mockingly. "Shin Keir, you ruined me. You took everything that was originally mine, and now you've even trampled over everything I've worked for over the past decade. Do you really think you can give me what I want?"
Shin "..."
"Since you refused to leave me alone, I'll do the same to you." Bryce leaned forward, his smile growing darker. "I already know you don't care much about your own reputation, and you couldn't give a damn about the Keir family. It's actually hilarious how those old geezers place all their hopes on you. But I wonder... can you stay just as indifferent when it comes to Yeri Zhi?"
For a brief moment, Shin said nothing. Then he scoffed. "You went through all this trouble just to get me here... that's it? You simply wanted me to listen while you vented your resentment?"
Bryce burst into laughter.
The calmer Shin appeared, the more worked up Bryce became as his eyes burned with madness.
"Did you really think locking me in here means it's over?" he sneered. "Just because you exposed a few of my secrets, you think you've won? I'm telling you... this is only the beginning. Instead of worrying about me, you should be asking yourself how long you think I'll stay in this prison."
Shin sighed, looking genuinely bored. "If you're really that capable, why are you telling me all this? Do you want my validation?"
Bryce's relaxed smile disappeared instantly, only naked hatred remained in his eyes, cold and murderous, like a predator staring at its prey.
Shin had heard enough and rose to his feet.
"What about you?" Bryce suddenly called out, his lips curling into a triumphant grin. "If you really don't care about the materials I have on Yeri Zhi, then why did you come?"
"To find out whether you were bluffing, and now I have my answer."
Bryce frowned. He hadn't admitted anything.
As if reading his thoughts, Shin continued, "Apart from the photo of the contract your fiancée leaked, you have nothing. Otherwise, you wouldn't have barked like a rabid dog, wasting my time."
Bryce's face twisted with fury because he knew Shin was right.
When he hacked into Yeri's phone, he hadn't found anything worthwhile besides the photos of the contract and countless pictures of her golden retriever.
But so what?
In this day and age, did people truly care about the truth?
Human hearts were often far more poisonous than lies. As long as the knife wasn't pointed at them, people could easily stand by and watch someone else bleed.
Just from Bryce's expression alone, Shin no longer needed to ask what he intended to do. Unfortunately, out of everything in the world, Bryce had chosen to set his sights on the one person Shin considered his world.
The invisible darkness surrounding Shin seemed to distort violently, like a raging sandstorm eager to consume everything in its path.
"Bryce Gate." Shin's icy voice echoed through the room. "You may have the intention... but will you have the time?"
Bryce's confidence was instantly replaced with caution.
A trace of unease flashed across his face.
"What are you going to do? Pay another inmate to finish me off? Or perhaps bribe an officer? Poison me? Not exactly original, are you?"
Shin walked closer until only the table separated them, and lowered his voice, calm enough to be frightening.
"You'll find out once you're back in your cage."
Before Bryce could respond, Shin turned and strode toward the exit.
Enraged, Bryce shot to his feet, only to be restrained by the officers.
"Shin Keir!" he roared. "Don't get too cocky! We'll see who's laughing in the end! You think you can protect her? Let me guess... she's somewhere in the Arctic with her classmates, happily enjoying her vacation!"
He threw his head back and laughed hysterically.
"Who knows? Accidents happen everywhere! This might just be her last vacation!"
Several meters away, Shin came to a halt, his eyes darkened, deep and turbulent like a bottomless abyss.
Without looking back, he resumed walking while behind him, Bryce continued shouting incoherently as the correctional officers forcefully dragged him back toward his solitary cell.
--
Bryce assumed whatever Shin intended to do wouldn't happen any time soon. Besides, he had spent the past few days pulling strings and building connections inside the prison, so he wasn't entirely worried.
Just as he reached beneath his bed and pulled out a hidden phone to contact someone, something strange happened.
It was as if his body had suddenly been possessed.
Without warning, he dropped to his knees and slammed his forehead against the concrete floor.
A burst of excruciating pain exploded through his skull. His vision blurred, dizziness overwhelmed him, and warm blood streamed down his face.
Once, twice and on the third strike, the guard finally noticed and shouted in alarm.
"You...! What the hell are you doing?"
Bryce howled in agony while repeatedly smashing his head against the floor.
As though that wasn't horrifying enough, he stared in terror as his own mouth clawed at his flesh, tearing chunks of skin from his arms like a mindless beast.
By the time several officers rushed over and restrained him, he was covered in blood from head to toe with deep bite marks and missing patches of flesh covered both of his forearms.
At first, the officers assumed Bryce Gate was deliberately injuring himself to force a transfer to the hospital. But seeing the severity of his wounds, they couldn't understand. No sane person would go this far.
"Maybe he contracted rabies?" one officer muttered in horror. "I've seen plenty of inmates hurt themselves, but never anything like this."
"Report it to the higher-ups first and ask for permission to transfer him to the hospital. The prison medic is already on the way," another officer ordered.
By then, Bryce had long since passed out, lying motionless in a pool of his own blood.
---
Loki immediately jumped to his feet when he heard that Yeri was joining the wildlife tour.
"The boss agreed?" he asked.
Yeri shot him an irritated glare. Why did she need Shin Keir's permission? Was he her grandfather or something? Why did she have to report everything she did?
"I'm the one on vacation, not him. Why should I ask for his permission?" she replied.
"Yeah," one of their classmates chimed in. "Is the tour really that dangerous? You only worry about Yeri. Do you think our lives aren't important?"
Loki ignored everyone else, swaying his head from side to side as though he were arguing with several personalities inside his own mind.
"Well... I don't think it's that dangerous," he finally said. "But it takes about an hour and a half just to reach the meeting point. After that, it's another one to two hours to get to the polar bear viewing area, and the sightseeing itself lasts for several more hours. It'll be freezing out there. What if you have a seizure?"
At those words, the other classmates immediately fell silent. They all knew how frail Yeri was and how often she got sick.
Yeri "..."
A seizure?
Just what kind of illness had Shin Keir told Loki she had?
"I don't have seizures," she said helplessly. "Don't worry. I won't be a burden."
Loki tilted his head from side to side again, scratched the back of his head, then finally nodded.
As the group prepared to leave, Yeri lightly patted Loki on the shoulder and lowered her voice. "I thought you transferred to our school just to keep an eye on me. Does this trip not count?"
Loki froze for a second, as though he had just remembered the reason he was there.
"Right!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Then you really have to come with me."
Yeri raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying I'm the one insisting on seeing the polar bears?"
Loki rubbed his chin before offering a compromise. "Fifty-fifty?"
Yeri let out a soft snort but didn't refute him. Part of her was also curious to see a real polar bear.
Just as their group of ten was about to leave the hotel, a staff came running and warned them of a possible blizzard.
"How unlucky," one classmate groaned. "I got all geared up and even cancelled my other activity for this."
"Weather forecasts aren't always accurate, right?" another said hopefully. "Maybe we can still go, take a few photos, then leave right away."
As disappointment spread through the group, Loki looked as though someone had emptied his bank account.
He stubbornly pleaded with the driver in charge, insisting he could go by himself and handle the blizzard alone.
The driver stared at him as though he had lost his mind and firmly refused.
"Maybe we can try again tomorrow if the weather clears up," Nina suggested.
Yeri quietly stood to one side, listening to everyone's discussion, when her phone suddenly rang.
She paused, glanced at the screen, and simply replied with a text saying she was busy.
A few seconds later, her phone rang again.
Seeing no sign that Shin intended to give up, Yeri sighed and walked to a quiet corner before answering.
After ending the call, she suddenly felt an intense gaze fixed on her.
She instinctively turned around but it was empty.
"They said the blizzard might last for two days, but there are plenty of activities inside the hotel anyway," Nina said as she jogged over. "Come on. It's starting to snow heavily."
Yeri nodded and followed her back inside. Halfway there, she glanced over her shoulder once more.
The strange feeling had already disappeared. She shook her head and thought she must be overthinking it.