İan...!"
Tyla screamed, her voice tearing through the air as she cradled his head tightly in her arms, holding him so firmly it felt as though she might break her own bones from the force of her embrace.
"No... don't leave me... please...!"
Her tears streamed down endlessly, mixing with the blood that covered her hands and clothes, while her entire body trembled as she pressed herself against him, as if she feared he would disappear from her arms.
On the other side...
None of Gong Nam Min's men knew that their leader was dead.
They were still fighting fiercely against ian's men, with bullets flying from every direction.
Amid the chaos...
Doo Hwan heard the sound of Tyla's desperate sobbing.
He turned around quickly, and the moment his eyes landed on his brother, the color drained from his face.
"Brother!!"
Without hesitation, he sprinted toward him and dropped to his knees beside him before placing two fingers against ian's neck to check for a pulse.
A few seconds passed...
Yet they felt like hours.
Then he lifted his head and shouted,
"His pulse is weak! Hurry... treat him now!"
At that moment, seo joon arrived with the rest of the men after eliminating Gong Nam Min's remaining forces.
He hurried toward them but stopped the moment he saw Tyla holding ian tightly, refusing to let anyone touch him.
She crying uncontrollably, as though her entire world had collapsed.
Seo Joon knelt in front of her and spoke gently despite the urgency in his voice.
"Tyla... if you want him to live... let us save him."
She looked at him with tear-filled eyes, but she couldn't let go of ian.
Her fear was greater than her ability to think.
Doo Hwan stood up firmly and said,
"We're not taking him to a public hospital... his injuries will attract the police and the media. Take him directly to our private doctor."
So joon nodded immediately.
"Understood... Yes, sir."
Inside the car...
Tyla sat in the back seat.
İan's head rested on her lap while she held a piece of cloth tightly against the gunshot wound in his abdomen.
Her hands were covered in his blood.
She could no longer comprehend what was happening.
Everything around her felt blurry, as though her mind had stopped processing reality.
She stared at his pale face and whispered between broken sobs,
"Please... don't leave me..."
She couldn't feel the road.
Nor the sound of the car.
Nor even the people around her.
The only thing she could feel...
Was fear.
The fear of losing him.
That thought alone was enough to tear her heart apart.
Eight hours later...
The surgery was finally over.
The doctors had removed the bullet from ian's abdomen after hours of fear and anxious waiting.
He was now lying in his private room inside the secret headquarters.
His bare chest rose and fell steadily.
His abdomen was wrapped in bandages.
So were his head and one of his hands.
The heart monitor emitted a steady rhythm, offering a small sense of reassurance.
As for Tyla...
She had barely left the room except for a few brief moments.
She hadn't changed her clothes.
She hadn't washed the dried blood from her hands.
She had sat beside him for hours, staring silently at his sleeping face.
She looked at him as though she no longer knew who he was.
She whispered to herself with a trembling voice,
"Who is ian... really...?"
"Was everything I saw... a lie...?"
She felt her chest tighten.
Finally, she stood up and slowly walked out of the room.
The moment she closed the door behind her...
She found SEO joon standing directly in front of her.
She slowly raised her eyes to meet his.
Fear, shock, and exhaustion were all clearly written across her face.
She asked quietly, although her voice trembled,
"Who is ian... really...?"
"What is all of this...?"
SEO joon looked at her for a long moment.
Then he spoke in a low voice.
"If you hear the truth... your life will never be normal again."
But Tyla didn't look away.
Despite the dried blood covering her hands...
She answered softly, yet firmly,
"My life... is already no longer normal."
Silence filled the hallway for a few seconds.
Ian let out a long sigh and leaned against the wall.
"İan was never just a famous YouTuber."
He lowered his gaze for a moment before continuing.
Tyla listened in silence while her heart pounded violently.
Years ago...
İan's father worked within a private security network that dealt with dangerous individuals and organizations.
Gong Nam Min was one of the members of that network.
But over time, they discovered that he was running illegal operations.
He trafficked drugs and girls.
He carried out contract killings.
When they decided to expose him...
He betrayed them before they could bring him down.
Her breathing stopped.
SEO joon continued,
"But Gong Nam Min betrayed them... and caused the deaths of many people... including ian's family."
Her eyes widened in shock.
"His family...?"
SEO joon slowly nodded.
"İan barely survived... but he was only a child."
He sighed before continuing.
Tyla's expression froze.
"After that... Gong Nam Min took him.
He didn't see him as a son... he turned him into a weapon."
"He convinced him that only the strong survive in this world... and that he had to seek revenge."
"And he separated him from his brother, Doo Hwan."
"He trained him from childhood."
"He made each brother believe that the other had died."
"He taught him how to fight... how to kill... until he created a persona he called... the Black Monster."
SEO joon swallowed hard.
"He kept convincing him that this was his true nature..."
"A merciless killer."
He lowered his head slightly.
"But when he grew up...
And finally reunited with his brother...
He discovered the truth."
SEO joon raised his eyes to meet hers.
"He discovered that Gong Nam Min was the one who had murdered his family... and that he had been using him all those years."
Tyla swallowed with difficulty.
Now she finally understood...
His cold stares.
The fear he constantly kept under control.
The way he always moved as though he expected danger at every second.
SEO joon spoke quietly.
"After that, he built his own network... people he trusted, protection systems, intelligence... and he wanted to bring Gong Nam Min down by any means necessary."
Then he looked directly at her.
"But when you appeared..."
A weary smile crossed his face.
"Everything changed."
Her breathing trembled.
"How...?"
"For the first time in years... he began living like a normal human being."
A sharp pain pierced her chest.
She remembered his laughter.
His good morning messages.
His jealousy.
The way he cooked breakfast for her as though the world held no danger.
All of it...
Was real.
Even if he had hidden the darkest part of his life.
She whispered softly,
"Then why... didn't he tell me?"
SEO joon answered without hesitation.
"Because he was afraid."
She slowly lifted her head toward him.
"İan isn't afraid for himself...
He was afraid that you'd look at him the same way he looks at himself...
As a monster."
Her eyes filled with tears once again.
At that very moment...
The sound of the heart monitor alarm echoed from inside the room.
Tyla quickly turned around and rushed to the door, throwing it open.
She found ian had regained consciousness.
She hurried to his side and held his hand with both of hers.
"İan... are you okay?"
"Yeah..."
He slowly lifted his eyes toward her.
Then his breathing stopped the moment he noticed the dried blood covering her hands.
"And you...?"
"Are you hurt?"
"Why... why are your hands covered in blood?"
She quickly shook her head, trying to stop her tears from falling.
"I'm fine... You're the one who got hurt, ian."
Suddenly...
He remembered the look in her eyes when she had seen him kill.
He remembered her fear.
Slowly, he pulled his hand away from hers.
Then he turned his face away.
A heavy silence filled the room.
Finally, he spoke in a broken, exhausted voice.
"Tyla..."
"...If you don't want to see my face ever again..."
He paused for a moment, as though the words hurt him more than his wounds.
"I... understand."
He closed his eyes.
"I'll send you somewhere safe..."
Then he whispered with difficulty,
"...And you'll never have to see my face again."