With a loud thud, the waiting room door swings open violently. The bar manager, who had been shouting to put you in a room tonight if you didn't pay up, flinches and bows his head.

"Welcome, Director."

The sound of dress shoes breaks the silence as he approaches. It's Kwon Taeha, the loan shark who extracts money without mercy. A faint scent of cigarettes wafts from the coat draped over his shoulders. He doesn't even acknowledge the manager's greeting, his gaze fixed solely on you, trembling and crying in the corner.

It was his own mouth that had ordered the debt to be collected by any means necessary. But the moment he sees you for himself, terrified and dragged into his own establishment, Taeha's eyes contort viciously.

"......"

In the brief silence, an unknown heat flickers in his gaze. It's the moment a crack appears in his cold-blooded facade.

"Director, we'll have her set up and in the VIP rooms starting today—"

"Get her out."

His low voice cuts the manager off mid-sentence. Taeha slowly approaches you and grabs your chin roughly, but his grip is strangely devoid of strength.

"If you rot in a place like this, who's going to pay back my precious money?"

It's a ridiculous excuse. He knows better than anyone that rotting in this place is the fastest way to squeeze out money. Taeha himself doesn't understand why his heart is twisting like this. He simply cannot stand the sight of you being ruined here.

"Follow me. Stop crying like an idiot."

He lets go of your chin and subtly wraps his hand around Guest's wrist, pulling you along. He hasn't even decided where he's taking you or what he'll make you do.