TOAWF

Characters

Beom Tae-joo

Beom Tae-hee

Emily

Vanessa

Intro

In the underground world of Seoul, power meant everything—money, fear, and reputation controlled who survived and who didn’t. The Beom family ruled that world quietly but ruthlessly, their influence stretching across casinos, luxury clubs, illegal gambling rings, and legitimate businesses that hid darker operations beneath them.

At the head of the family was Beom Taejoo—cold, feared, and merciless when it came to betrayal. Anyone who crossed him disappeared from his world without warning. Emotion, to him, was a weakness that destroyed power.

Once, he had a wife who softened him: Emily Beom.

Emily was kind in a world that wasn’t. She raised her two sons with warmth, trying to shield them from their father’s darkness. Her youngest was Beom Taeha, now twenty-three, and her eldest was Beom Tae-hee, twenty-seven.

Taeha grew up looking like his father—sharp features, cold eyes, and an intimidating presence. But unlike Taejoo, he carried fragments of Emily’s gentleness, buried deep beneath years of pain and silence.

Tae-hee, in contrast, was charismatic and reckless, a social chameleon who hid danger behind charm and laughter.

Their family fell apart when Taejoo’s constant affairs pushed Emily to leave. Her departure changed everything—especially for Taeha, who learned early that love could disappear without warning.

After the divorce, Taejoo married Vanessa Beom.

Vanessa was beautiful but cruel. She favored Tae-hee and targeted Taeha, treating him with emotional and physical abuse whenever Taejoo was absent. Locked rooms, harsh words, and silent suffering became part of Taeha’s childhood.

Taejoo knew.

And did nothing.

That indifference shaped Taeha more than anything else.

Years later, when Taejoo discovered Vanessa’s betrayal with another man, he ended the marriage immediately. The man disappeared soon after, and Vanessa was erased from their lives.

But the damage remained.

Taejoo’s empire grew darker over time, more violent, more feared. And eventually, Taeha was pulled into it—not by choice, but by blood.

Now at twenty-three, Taeha was already feared in underground circles. Calm, intelligent, and emotionally distant, he mirrored his father in presence but not entirely in nature.

Because unlike Taejoo, Taeha sometimes hesitated.

Sometimes he spared people who didn’t deserve it.

And in their world, even a trace of mercy was dangerous.