“You,” Bomi muttered with considerable difficulty. “You’re the leader of the Shadow Clan?”

The One-Eyed Man discarded his mask to the side and regarded Bomi with a satisfied smirk. With his face fully revealed, Bomi could see the full extent of the scar that had been hidden by his mask. It extended from the tip of his left brow, driving straight through his eye, down to the corner of his lips. His eye had never recovered from the injury; it remained completely shut. The scar was absolutely mortifying, and it was the one Bomi had given him. 

And his one working eye―Bomi could recognize it clearly from that day. The flame in them hadn’t died out; it was the same, determined flame that had burned in his eye as he stared at Bomi while she had made her escape. She was looking directly at the monster that had been haunting her dreams for two years. He was a nightmare that had come to life.

“I am indeed the leader of the Shadow Clan,” he confirmed.

“It can’t be.” Bomi fumbled for words, “How? Were you…”

“Was I the leader when we first met? No. After you escaped, I worked tirelessly day and night to usurp the previous leader, and all of it has led me to this point. I have waited far too long for this moment. You did this,” he pointed to his mutilated eye, “to me. Since that day, I have vowed to do whatever it takes to find you and make you feel the pain that you have inflicted on me.”

“Believe me, I feel the same way,” Bomi grunted.

“I don’t see a disfiguring scar on your face,” he scowled.

“Some scars run deeper than skin,” replied Bomi. 

This was the man who had beaten Moonbyul to death. This was the man who had stood idly by and laughed as his comrades continued to beat the rest of Bomi’s team. This was the man who had shot and killed Yookyung. All of the emotions swirling in Bomi’s gut could only be described as pure fury, resentment, and loathing. 

She had waited so long for this moment; she had spent endless days and nights trying to track this man down. For two whole years, Bomi had imagined what exactly she would do to the man who had murdered the ones she loved. She’d had it all played out in her mind, and the thought of actually making those thoughts a reality was the only thing that had kept her going. 

And yet as she stared into the blazing eye of the man she had been hunting for so long, she found herself unsure of what to do. 

Bomi wanted so badly to launch herself at him and hurt him in the ways that he had hurt her, but she stayed frozen in place. It was as though her body refused to move because they knew that any movement could mean her death.

The leader pushed her back with a rough shove. “I untied your binds. Why aren’t you fighting back?”

“What do you want from me?” Bomi asked in a low growl.

“I told you what I want.” He shoved her again. “Fight back!”

“Is this a game to you?”

Another shove. “Fight, you coward!”

“Answer my damn question!”

This time, the shove was rougher and it forced Bomi into the wall behind her. The leader’s face was beginning to redden. “I said, fight back! I have waited so long to beat you, mutilate you, and hurt you in all ways both imaginable and unimaginable. All this time, I have sat on this mound of anger and absolute detestment towards you, Yoon Bomi, and now I’m going to make you prefer death over life.” He pushed her again. “Why aren’t you fighting back?”

“Is this why you wanted me? To get your revenge? Did you even want to capture the princess?”

Bomi didn’t see the punch coming. The leader had moved so fast that she didn’t even see him pull his fist back. Bomi let out a gasp as his fist dug deep into her gut and slammed her back into the wall. Bomi fell to the floor, and the leader just stared down at her with distaste.

“The fire in you has died out,” he spat. “You’re pathetic now.”

No. Never, Bomi thought. She would never let that fire die out.

The leader squatted down and tipped Bomi’s chin with his thumb. “I spent weeks recovering from what you did to me, months building up my strength and following to usurp the previous leader, and even more months tracking you down. And this is what I get? What a disappointment.”

“I have quite the disadvantage here,” Bomi coughed. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“You have no idea what I had to go through because of you,” the leader snarled.

“Enlighten me.”

The leader grabbed fistfuls of Bomi’s collar and hauled her onto her feet. “I lost everything because of you. I was one of the previous leader’s most trusted commanders, but after you escaped, I lost my rank. I was left to rot on that hospital bed, because no one wanted to respect a man who had been mutilated by a woman and had even allowed her to escape. So as I sat on that hospital bed, I made a vow to myself that I would find you and repay you for what you had done to me.

“Despite being abandoned by most of my comrades, I recovered and started to build up my own gathering of supporters to overthrow the previous leader. It took a while, but your damn face haunted me every night, and I worked my off. I killed the old leader. He and I had grown up together as close friends, but he had abandoned me and I had no warm feelings for him, to say the least. I took over his role as leader of the Shadow Clan, and since then I have only had two goals on my mind: Kill you and the princess.”

“I knew you wanted me for something…That’s why you sent those two men, that man with the message, and Seungri.” Bomi said. “Your lackeys weren’t the most inconspicuous people.”

“They’re incompetent fools who just barely get the job done,” the leader scoffed.

“So that whole ploy with Yookyung and the princess…Was it just to get me?”

The leader nodded. “And it worked beautifully didn’t it?”

“If you wanted me alive for you to kill so badly, then why did you send Seungri to kill me?”

“I didn’t. That fool is so driven by rage and he must have gotten carried away. I suppose I have to thank your team for getting rid of that nuisance for me.”

Bomi bit back on her tongue. The Shadow Clan believed that Seungri had been killed, and Bomi was going to let them keep believing that. “So now what? Are you going to kill me?”

“Oh no, of course not. Not yet, anyway.” The leader grinned maliciously. “We’re going to have some fun first.”

Bomi clenched her jaw and tried to back away from the leader, but she had already been backed up against the wall. She watched as the leader got closer to her with that ravenous look in his eyes. 

Get out of here, Unnie. 

Unnie, please...Live. 

I’ve got your back. 

Bomi saw the flames, her teammates burning, and their ashes being swept away by the lonely wind. 

She saw the One-Eyed Man, killing the very people that she loved.

She saw herself, amidst all the pain and suffering, unable to do anything to help her friends.

There was a heavy, trembling feeling in Bomi’s chest, and she recognized it immediately as something she had rarely ever felt in these sorts of situations: fear. She was afraid. The leader closed in on her, and she was utterly terrified.

Chorong, Bomi sent out a silent plea. Eunji. Namjoo. Hayoung. Naeun. Please.

Would they even hear her? She had no idea where she was or how far away her team was, and she didn’t know if they would come on time. 

Please…, she thought. Please come. 

Bomi gripped her fists―and the screaming began.