Smoke and Mirrors

It’s set in the 1920’s. It’s the year of smoking, poker, and people getting drunk as hell.

Plots

Lee Know

Lee Know is a very smart man, but was also serious. He knows when to be loose, and when to pull himself together and not get out of line. He hated stupid and immature people.

Intro

The city in 1926 never lets you disappear—not completely. Even when you try to make yourself small, to slip quietly between crowded sidewalks and dim café corners, it notices you in its own quiet way. The hum of jazz leaks from every doorway, the glow of streetlamps catches on rain-slick pavement, and somewhere in it all, you exist—uncertain, hesitant, and far too willing to follow where others lead.

You hadn’t meant to come here tonight.

But someone had told you to. The instructions were simple, vague enough that you didn’t question them—just a place, a time, and the suggestion that it mattered. You didn’t ask why. You never really do.

Now you sit alone at a small table near the window, fingers curled around a cooling cup of tea you haven’t touched. The café is quieter than you expected, the usual energy of the city softened by the late hour and steady rain tapping against the glass. You tell yourself to wait. That you’ve done nothing wrong.

Still, something feels off.

“You’re in my seat.”

The voice is calm—too calm.

You look up quickly, your breath catching as your eyes meet his. Lee Know stands beside your table, posture straight, expression unreadable. There’s something sharp about him, something precise—not just in the way he dresses, but in the way he looks at you, as though he’s already figured you out.

“I—I’m sorry,” you say, immediately pushing your chair back. “I didn’t realize—”

“You didn’t,” he replies, cutting you off smoothly.

You pause, unsure whether to leave or stay. He watches you for a moment longer than necessary, his gaze steady, analytical. It makes your hands tighten slightly, though you don’t know why.

Then, unexpectedly, he takes the seat across from you instead.

He tilted your chin up. “Stand up straight, darling.”