Our dreams make us beautiful, and sometimes they make us dangerous.

When Sungjong was 16, he ran away from home. His older brother Howon, with his talks of honesty and morality and his general chivalry, had always been his parents’ favourite. Howon had been the top of his class in school, excelling in sports, handsome class president and teacher’s pet – he was every mother’s dream, every girl’s desire.

It hadn’t been jealousy of his brother, not really. It was rather frustration that had driven Sungjong away from home. He hated how trapped he felt – the school, playground, and his home – that pretty much made up his world.

Even at a young age, he had known he was destined for more.

Too bad his parents and everyone else didn’t seem to agree. They told him to study, graduate and go to University, then get a high-paying job. He ridiculed their idea of success – his dream was greater, grander.  His brother might have been satisfied with that, but he wasn’t.

Intelligent and meticulous, from a very young age Sungjong had mastered the craft of manipulation. He was gifted. There was something about his face and personality that most people couldn’t resist, that drew them in, made them trust him. He had seen it, in his friends in school, his neighbours – even though he didn’t do anything special to socialise he had plenty of loyal friends. If he needed a favour, somehow it got done.

The moment he had realised that, he knew it was time for him to make his future – not just a high-paying a job, rather an empire. Yes, an empire – that was what he had really wanted. With his gift and superior intellect, he was meant to rule.

So he had run away, knowing he could never do much, stuck at home and spoiled by his parents, around his brother. He was ambitious, and his means of getting there wasn’t necessarily follow the ordinary rules of morality – so he would never be accepted by his family.

At first he wasn’t sure what he had wanted to do – the possibilities were limitless. But then, while trying to find a place to stay in the worse-off areas of Seoul, he ran into a gang of addicts. He hung around with them for some time, never using, banking on his people skills to get along despite no common interests.

He was introduced to some dealers and he started hanging around them instead. Gradually, he got interested in the business – he saw a lot of potential. At that time, there were about 40 gangs running the business all over the country, and a few others had links outside the country. Competition was high between the gangs, with members of rival gangs killing each other off. There were no monopolies in the business or oligopolies – the gangs were scattered with zero co-operation.

However, to Sungjong it had seemed like the perfect challenge, the perfect place to build his empire. He was a 17 year old boy whom no one took seriously, looking to bring together 40 something independent gangs with a dark and bloody history.

Once in his drunken stupor, he had confessed to someone what he was aiming to do. It was to a 54-year old gang leader, who had been in the business for 30 years. Staring at Sungjong for a full minute, he’d burst out laughing. Finally, stopping himself, he’d said, “Kid, with your wild fantasies, you should become a writer. I’ll bet 10000 won that it will never happen, definitely not by you.”

Five years after that incident, Sungjong had searched the man out, and before killing him with a single bullet, he had taken a 10000 won note out of his wallet.

It hadn’t been easy, at times it had seemed almost impossible. But Sungjong never gave up. There were no failures for him, only setbacks.

At one point, he was traveling from one part of Korea to another all day, even taking flights out of the country to go to China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Those few years were crazy – Sungjong got hurt, beaten, shot at, but nothing was enough to stop him. He treasured the scars. Very soon, he had built a core of powerful, loyal men around him as his shield.

These men were there partly because of the promise of an empire, because surely an emperor needed ministers; partly because they were greedy, and partly because they were fascinated with Sungjong and had already pledged their lives to him. Sungjong was aware that some of them were romantically interested him, well, at least ually. It was funny to him, but he played it smoothly, never getting close but holding them on a leash, tempting them just enough to keep them interested.

In the four years, Sungjong slept for less than an hour a day; many days, he went sleepless, caught up by the frenzy of the pieces coming together. On other days, he was escaping from furious gang leaders, as attempts were being made on his life when he began to succeed.

Finally, the day came – STR DIENASTY was established. He had used the first letters of his first name, along with two of his most trusted, who had given as much as he had in bringing everything together. Taemin and Ryewook had been there from the very beginning and had trusted him blindly. He had wanted to call it Dynasty, because that was what he was planning to form, when Taemin had suggested a small change in spelling, to convey the fatal streak this empire was built upon.

Sungjong was the sole leader, the Blood Lily, a mere shadow for most, but a symbol of power and intelligence. He commanded fear and respect, just as he had hoped to. And money – the money came rolling in. He had enough money to cover his walls, his bed, everything. Now that was what he called being well-off.

At this point in time, he had started contacting his family again. Once or twice a year he would meet his brother. Of course he couldn’t tell them the extent of his success – his family thought he worked at a small firm and hated everyone. In other words, they thought he had made wrong choices and ended up as a disappointment – they didn’t want much to do with him. It suited him just fine.

He was behind the building of Star Destiny, and a few other companies, all anagrams of STR DIENASTY, giving himself something to laugh about. They were not for the money, but more for the protection. He loved the phrase ‘hiding in plain sight’ – that was what he had been doing. On the outside, they were serving their purpose, on the inside they were offices for STR. No one would ever guess…

That was until he heard about Detective Kim Sunggyu. He had an intricate information system, so it didn’t take him long to hear about the detective’s antics. It amused him immensely, and impressed him a bit too, that a mere detective had come closer than any Intelligence organisation.

Soon he realised that the detective might know more than he was letting on and it became a reason for worry. He came to know the unthinkable – the detective had unearthed the location of their Headquarters. That would mean a raid.

Anger had gripped Sungjong – how dare this puny detective threaten his empire? How could he even think for a moment that he would be able to bring down what Sungjong had built over years? He had lost sweat and blood over this – did Kim Sunggyu really think he would be able to dismantle STR like it was made of matchsticks. If he had, he was wrong.

It was Taemin’s idea to clear out the Headquarters, but Sungjong had another plan. “Let it all stay,” he said. “Let him see and wonder, realise how close he had come and how he wouldn’t go any farther.”

With Minji’s help, he had set up a trap for Kim Sunggyu. Holding him and Minji hostage – although Minji was there on her own wish, but the other members of the raid team had no idea of knowing it – he had kept them at bay. In the meantime, he had … had a good talk with Sunggyu.

The talk consisted mostly of Sunggyu’s screams though. Sungjong had sat on a high chair, his hands folded neatly in his lap, his legs crossed, watching the pain paint pictures across the detective’s face. He had expected him to be stubborn; he lived up to the expectation. After an hour of intense torture though, Sunggyu had spoken – he had told Sungjong about the files, the ones he had diligently written, which contained everything he knew about STR. Taemin had looked at Sungjong, asking silently if he should finish Sunggyu off. Sungjong had thought about it, Sunggyu’s bloodied, scarred, and burnt body thrashing at his feet.

“Blow her up,” he had ordered. “And throw him out.” He jerked his head at the detective’s body.

Everything had gone well. The files remained an issue, but not of immediate concern. They would just move their Headquarters and everything would run as smoothly as possible. Sungjong had won.

That night though, he had woken up with nightmares. In the 27 years of his life, it was the first time he remembered having a nightmare. It was terrifying, and in his life, this was the first time he felt scared. Truly scared. It was a foreign feeling for him. He had been at gunpoint so many times, he had almost died so many times, but he had never felt so utterly scared.

The nightmare had mostly consisted of Sunggyu’s face, constricted with pain, scrunched up with fear, marred by knives that had sliced his skin. Beaten and bloodied, he saw his body writhing on the floor, as if it was right there, on the floor of his bedroom. He had screamed so loudly that he had woken himself up. Sweaty and out of breath, he had reached for the glass of water on his bedside but his hand was shaking so badly that it slipped and shattered. Taemin, who slept in the next suite, had come running.

“Are you alright?” he had asked, his face pale. He had never seen Sungjong like this, never.

“Taemin, is-is Kim Sunggyu dead?”

“Who?”

“Kim Sunggyu - the Narcotics detective, the guy we-”

“I don’t know, why?”

“I think – I think he’s haunting me.”

Taemin knew Sungjong too well to laugh. The Blood Lily was fearless. Watching him with dread in his eyes was something he had never even imagined.

“I’ll find out in the morning, our people are tracking him.”

“No, now!”

Taemin hadn’t said anything else. He had made some phone calls and eventually let Sungjong know that Sunggyu was not dead, but he had had a .

The nightmares persisted despite Sungjong getting hourly reports of Sunggyu’s situation. He wasn’t dead, and yet, he felt he was being haunted by his ghost. It was completely new for him – he had killed people before, he had looked right into their eyes and pulled the trigger or driven the knife through their bodies, but it had never affected his sleep. He had washed the blood off his hands like it was nothing. He didn’t have a conscience, so what was it about Sunggyu that was different, that made him lose sleep?

After three weeks, Sungjong got to know that Sunggyu was suffering from severe PTSD, which meant his memory was affected and he couldn’t continue being a detective. He hadn’t realised how bad it was though until he had visited him.

At first, Taemin had strongly refused to the idea but Sungjong didn’t listen to anyone. He had his men look up on the detective – his past, his present, family, friends. He decided that approaching his brother, Kim Myungsoo, was the best way to get closer to Sunggyu.

Yes, he had decided to get close to the detective; it was a strong urge, something that he couldn’t stop thinking about for a moment. It had grown into an obsession – just the same as building his empire - and he created a plan. He would get close to Kim Sunggyu and he would get rid of the files he had on STR – both were necessities in his book. He confided in Taemin and Ryewook, and a few others of his close associates. Even if they had anything against Sungjong exposing himself, they didn’t voice their concerns because they knew he hated cowards or people who told him what to do.

“Trust me,” he had told them, and it was enough for them.

Breaking through Myungsoo was easier than he had expected. He realised that the man was more scarred than it seemed on the outside, and Sungjong was good at manipulating emotions. Soon they were confessing to each other, with Myungsoo proposing and asking him to move in. Sungjong, who was now visiting Sunggyu regularly at the rehab, had agreed. He had bonded with Sunggyu; luckily the latter hadn’t recognised him. True, he had been wearing a mask during their last fateful meeting but he was a bit anxious about it.

Sungjong was a people’s person, but not a single person in his life attracted him as much as Sunggyu did. True, he was acquainting himself with a completely new Sunggyu than the detective he had tortured, but it was still fascinating.

Retrieving the files was a constant nagging worry in the back of his head but for the time, he concentrated on Sunggyu and his life with Myungsoo. He told Myungsoo he was working from home – it wasn’t a lie really, he was running STR from home, his faux job of a graphics designer was enough to satisfy Myungsoo.

Things had been going well; Sungjong had been enjoying himself but then, he met Kris at Dr. Ok’s. He hadn’t counted on running into his former right hand man in China going to the same psychiatrist he took Sunggyu to. Kris was one of the few people of his organisation who knew him by face, so the meeting had been fateful. There had been some trouble cooking with Kris trying to leave the organisation.

Sungjong had asked Taemin to keep him on a leash. But Kris finding out where Sungjong was currently handed him a lethal weapon. The tables turned - Kris threatened Taemin instead, demanding a meeting with Blood Lily. The situation was pretty much decisive, Sungjong had to agree to meet Kris. And then the events from that night had unfolded…

He had told Sunggyu to go out, that he would meet him on the streets in front of the apartment complex. He himself used the window in Sunggyu’s bedroom to get out and then took the stairwell to climb down, reaching the back of the complex. He had rounded back, getting Sunggyu, because he couldn’t leave him home, even though he had ensured Myungsoo would sleep deeply that night. But on the way, he had run into Taecyeon. Unable to shake him off, he had taken the lift he had offered. He had an idea that Kris might be violent, so back-up wouldn’t be bad.

Taecyeon had no idea where Sungjong was going or what for – he had just said an appointment with a friend, but if someone threatened Sungjong, Taecyeon would definitely defend him; he was charmed by Sungjong already. With Taecyeon’s physique, the thought was reassuring.

He hadn’t meant to kill Kris initially, but no one threatened his life and lived. Besides, Taecyeon might have killed him with the baseball bat, so there was no going back on it. But then and there, he hatched another plan, this time to fulfil his original intention – to make the files on STR disappear. Minji would have to take on a greater role, but he trusted Minji.that girl was another of those people who was loyal to him completely.

He hadn’t expected Sunggyu to get blamed in all this mess. He hadn’t expected Sunggyu to recognise Kris after all this time and throw a tantrum, which made him seem even more suspicious. Things hadn’t gotten exactly the way he had planned, so he had a decision to make. He couldn’t let Sunggyu arrested, so he had to take on the blame. He had to make a show of it, so that the detectives realised who the real killer was, and then disappear. He would have liked to stay like this, but he couldn’t afford to.

That was what this was all about – the fake kidnapping, luring of the detectives to Star Destiny so that they could see for themselves what a grave mistake they were making and how stupid they actually were. He was going to make a statement, and then disappear, along with Star Destiny, his new Headquarters after the warehouse that he’d destroyed a year ago. Everything was going according to plan, until, Woohyun shot. He had a fraction of a second to make a decision – it took him less. It was so natural that it seemed like he had decided on it a long time ago. He had thrown himself before Sunggyu; he didn’t even regret the fact that he might die for him. In fact, this seemed like the best way to die, for the one he loved.

Yes, he loved Sunggyu.

He was in love with Sunggyu.

And no matter in how many ways or how many languages he expressed it, it wasn’t enough.

Kim Sunggyu was the one person in his life he had ever truly loved.

He had once read that if you truly want to know someone, you should learn to love them. Maybe his desire of getting to know Sunggyu was so strong that he had learned to love him completely. Or it could have been the other way around.

But Taemin was the one who came through for him. Sungjong had lost consciousness right after Sunggyu’s first teardrop fell on his cheek. But then he heard from Taemin, who had been hiding in the basement even though he had instructed him to wait at the rooftop with a helicopter, which was to become his getaway ride, that after the detectives ran away, he had gathered Sungjong in his arms and headed to the underground passage. The passage led to a secret car park a block away from Star Destiny, where their ride was waiting, as well as Medics. Taemin had a bad feeling about the plan all along; he hadn’t approved of Sungjong taking on the detectives alone. The helicopter had been flown away by a gang member, a distraction if they had needed it.

“Wow, you could give me a run for my money,” Sungjong had told Taemin when he heard the full story.

Smiling sheepishly, he said, “Well, I learned from the best.”

His chest was still painful, and he had been comatose for a while but he was healing rapidly now. He had to give it to the surgeon though, because he had thought he was a goner. He’d lost so much blood, and yet, almost miraculously, he had pulled out.

“If only you had thought about wearing a bulletproof vest,” Taemin had grumbled.

Sungjong laughed. Why hadn’t he thought about that?

“Maybe I’m developing an immortal complex.”

Taemin rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything, only looked worried. It was a proof of the strength of their bond that Taemin didn’t ask Sungjong why he had jumped in front of Sunggyu to save him. Maybe he knew by now, after all, Sungjong hadn’t been himself the past year, and Taemin is one of the few who knew that.

“We’re keeping them on surveillance, Myungsoo and Sunggyu and the other detectives -”

“No need,” Sungjong said. “They are not threats anymore.”

“And what about Nam Woohyun?” Taemin asked in a steely voice which suggested he wanted to do away with the said detective.

Sungjong frowned – it wasn’t a bad idea because he had indeed threatened his life but then he remembered the way Woohyun looked at Sunggyu.

“No, let him be. Sunggyu needs him.”