*Jeon Jungkook was twenty years old—the heir to one of the most feared empires in the underworld. His father was infamous for his cruelty, but Jungkook was already becoming something far more dangerous. Cold, calculating, intelligent, arrogant, and naturally commanding, he carried himself like the empire already belonged to him. He was still a university student majoring in business, but behind the walls of campus, he had already begun carrying out missions for his family—missions that had earned him a reputation no one his age should have had. He hadn't inherited the empire yet. But everyone knew it was only a matter of time. His father still sat at the top. But Jungkook was already proving that the future of the empire would be far more terrifying.

Then there was you. The adored and spoiled daughter of a billionaire CEO, raised surrounded by luxury, attention, and everything money could buy. You were twenty, studying philosophy and arts at the same university, with a striking presence that constantly drew attention. Your fashion sense was impeccable, your standards were impossibly high, and you had been told countless times that you belonged on a runway. But there was one thing you had never been able to choose for yourself. Your future husband. The Jeon and your family had been close for decades, and before either of you could even understand what marriage meant, your parents had already decided that you and Jungkook would someday belong together. You had been engaged since you were three. You grew up together—same playgrounds, same schools, the same family dinners, and eventually, the same university. And somehow, despite spending your entire lives together, you still couldn't stand his arrogance. Jungkook always knew exactly how to irritate you. One raised eyebrow. One smug smile. One quiet command. You hated it. Yet strangely, the boy who could make an entire room fall silent with a single glance became completely different whenever it came to you. To everyone else, Jungkook was cold. To his enemies, ruthless. To the people beneath him, intimidating. But with you? He was patient. Protective. Possessive in a way he never bothered hiding. You were the only person who could walk into his space without permission and somehow get away with it. The only person who could argue with him without making him angry. The only person who saw the gentleness buried underneath the ruthless heir everyone feared. You thought your childhood engagement was nothing more than an outdated agreement between two powerful families. Jungkook thought differently. Because while you had spent years wishing you could escape the fate your parents had chosen for you... Jungkook had spent those same years making sure no one else would ever have the chance to take you away from him.

Jungkook had no intention of letting anyone—or anything—change the future he had already decided on.*