(The streets of New Seoul are slick with recent rain. Neon signs flicker in the distance, casting reflections on cobbled alleyways. The sound of distant jazz echoes from a club nearby. It's midnight.)

[Narration — Soft gray tone with ink-brushed city]

The city that never sleeps — not when its queen is awake.

[A tall figure stepping out of a luxury car. Long wolf-cut hair tied loosely, a sleek black suit hugging her toned frame. A cigarette hangs from her lip. Cold eyes scan the street.]

Dahlia (Ren): (coldly, to her bodyguard Mira)

“Make sure nobody follows us. I don’t like being watched.”

Mira: (glancing behind)

“Yes, Boss. Eyes everywhere these days. Even in the rain.”

(They step into an underground speakeasy, filled with shadows and whispers. At the far end, a girl in a flowery frock is playing piano softly — a sweet, innocent melody among thugs and secrets.)

She didn’t belong there. That was her danger… and her charm.

[ Hana’s face — warm smile, chubby cheeks, long soft hair bouncing as she plays. A pink glow outlines her as if she's from another world.]

Hana (softly, to herself):

“Maybe if I play it softer… She’ll remember me.”

(Dahlia notices her — her cigarette pauses halfway. Her breath catches. The melody hits a memory.)

[Flashback in pale ink — a younger Dahlia watching a girl run through a field of sunflowers. The tune was the same.]

Dahlia (muttering):

“…That song…”

“Ooh... I was trapped in the night, when suddenly—like summer breeze on my skin—she touched my world... and everything began to...”

Mira (tense): Trying to confront Dahlia

“Are you okay?”

Dahlia:

“Leave us. Don’t let anyone in.”

Mira (irritated grits her teeth and muttering):

TCH! Again her ...

Mira (Trying to stop Dahlia):

But Ren _

Dahlia (angrily )

LEAVE!

Mira (taking few steps back):

yes

(She walks slowly to the piano. Hana looks up, surprised but calm.)

Hana (smiling):

“You smell like gunpowder and rain.”

Dahlia (pausing, then smirking):

“You talk like you have a death wish.”

[Narration — her heart begins to thaw, in silent pulses]

That was the first time Dahlia didn’t give the order to shoot.

(The speakeasy is quiet except for the gentle hum of Hana’s final notes. Outside, thunder rolls. Inside, a storm brews silently between two fates about to intertwine.)

[Hana’s soft expression, contrasted with Dahlia’s sharp, unreadable face. Their eyes lock. One holds curiosity, the other command.]

Hana (tilting her head playfully):

“So... mafia boss or just someone with really good fashion taste?”

Dahlia (light scoff):

“I don’t do small talk with strangers.”

Hana (smiling wider):

“Then make me not a stranger.”

[Panel — Mira outside the door, tense. She speaks into an earpiece.]

Mira:

“Dahlia’s still inside with the civilian. Do we intervene?”

Voice on comm (deep, male):

“Negative. Let her play. The girl’s clean. But keep eyes on entrances.”

[Scene shift — A warehouse rooftop under the same stormy sky. A new character watches from afar.]

[Enter Blossom — short silver hair under a black beret, trench coat fluttering in the wind. She sips from a thermos.]

Blossom (dryly):

“Well, well... our queen found a new flower.”

[From behind, another voice — sweet but steely.]

Evenie:

“Think it’s just a crush or something fatal?”

(Evenie, Hana’s childhood best friend, steps beside her — leather jacket, short bob, clutching a camera with a zoom lens.)

Blossom (smirking):

“Depends on who picks the petals first.”

[Narration]

Not everyone watches to protect. Some just want to see how long a match burns before it dies.

[Scene returns to speakeasy. Hana closes the piano. Stands. Walks to Dahlia — barely an inch between them.]

Hana:

“I know who you are, Dahlia.”

Dahlia (coldly):

“Then why aren’t you afraid?”

Hana (softly):

“Because I know you won't hurt me.”

[ Dahlia’s mask cracks for a split second. Her lips part. But suddenly—]

BANG!

(A bullet shatters the ceiling lamp. Screams erupt.)

Mira (bursting in):

“Boss! MOVE!”

[ Chaos. Mira shields Dahlia. Hana pulled behind the piano.]

Dahlia (shouting):

“Who the hell—?!”

[Enter D.U. — lean, fast, dressed in red, eyes wild with adrenaline.]

D.U. (grinning):

“Sorry for the party crash. Mary sends her love.”

[Narration — Thunder claps above.]

And just like that, the first petal of peace was torn by a storm they didn’t see coming.

(Lightning flashes. The speakeasy turns into a battlefield. Screams, gunfire, and glass rain down. But amidst the chaos, something raw begins to spark—an instinct to protect, to hold, to not let go.)

[ Mira shields Dahlia with a sharp movement, gun drawn. Her eyes search the room like a predator unleashed.]

Mira (cold and precise):

“Two snipers on the west roof. Reinforcements ETA three minutes.”

Dahlia (to Mira, furious):

“This was a trap. I want them alive, Mira.”

[Hana crouched behind the piano, clutching her arm—cut from flying glass. Eyes wide. Heart racing. Yet... she's watching Dahlia.]

Hana (thought bubble):

She moves like fire—burning everything that dares come near her. And still... I want to reach out.

---

[Scene — Evenie and Blossom watch through scoped lenses from across the street.]

Evenie (tense, speaking to herself):

“They’re targeting Hana too...”

Blossom (arms folded):

“They knew she’d be bait. Dahlia walked right into it. Someone wants to break her.”

Evenie (gritting teeth):

“Then we’re getting her out. I don’t care who Dahlia is—Hana’s mine to protect.”

---

[Back inside — D.U. flips over a table, exchanging gunfire with Mira. She's fast. Too fast.]

D.U. (laughing):

“You’re slipping, Mira! The queen made you soft!”

Mira (gritted voice):

“Say that again and I’ll break your jaw.”

[ Dahlia throws her coat over Hana, lifts her to her feet. Their faces inches apart. Hana trembles slightly.]

Hana (whispering):

“I didn’t think I’d die next to you…”

Dahlia (low, fierce):

“You won’t.”

[ Dahlia pushes Hana into Mira’s arms.]

Dahlia:

“Get her out. NOW.”

---

[Scene — Kea, Hana’s mother, watches the gunfight unfold from a dark car nearby. Beside her, an older man in a suit clutches a phone nervously.]

Kea (voice calm, deadly):

“She was supposed to be safe. You said the mafia wouldn’t find her.”

Man:

“She was never hidden from Dahlia…”

[Kea turns to him. Her smile is razor-thin.]

Kea:

“Then you just declared war.”

Lightning cracked across the sky—

not just in the heavens, but in Dahlia’s eyes.

The bar was dim, soaked in the scent of bourbon and blood. Flickering neon cast dancing shadows on slick floors. Rain pounded the rooftop like war drums. Inside, glass shattered. A chair toppled.

The thunder outside answered her command.

Hana [barked bruised but not broken, staggered backward, her breath caught between fear and disbelief. Her cheek bore the ghost of a slap—not Dahlia’s, but someone else’s wrath aimed at her for simply being by the mafia boss's side]

“You think this scares me?I’ve seen worse in your shadow.”

Flash—

Another bolt of lightning exposed the madness unfolding: Mira stood on the bar counter, pistol raised, sharp-eyed like a hawk protecting its nest. Her heels dug into glass. Her knuckles were bloodied, but her stance was unshaken.

Mira [shouted]

"Everyone out!,This isn't your fight. But if you stay, you’ll regret it."

Men scrambled—thugs, traitors, and a few loyal one s who dared look Dahlia in the eye before nodding and slipping away. The bar was thinning, but the danger only thickened.

Dahlia [cool and composed, fixed her sleeves like she was preparing for a wedding, not a war. Her voice came low, slow, and lethal]

“Why did you run, Hana?”

The question wasn’t casual. It was the weight of a decade pressed into a whisper.

Hana froze, eyes widening. She wanted to scream the truth:

Because loving you meant bleeding. Because loving you meant fire, and I was drowning.

But her lips quivered instead. The moment stretched between them like a drawn blade.

Hana

[murmured]:

"You... you never looked back when I left,So I thought you never cared."

Dahlia stepped forward.

Mira [warned]:

“One more step and I swear—!

Dahlia [softly]:

“Stand down, Mira,She’s not my enemy.”

But Mira didn’t budge. The loyalty carved into her bones wouldn’t let her.

Then the front door burst open—

gunfire outside, Blossom’s silhouette in the lightning. “We’ve got company! They followed us!”

Dahlia cursed under her breath, pulling Hana behind her like a sacred possession.

Evenie [Hana’s best friend, rushed in through the kitchen entrance, soaked, wild-eyed] :

“Hana! You have to choose now! Run or stay with her!”

[And for the first time—

truly the first time—

Hana stood tall.]

Hana:

“I’m done running.”

She grabbed Dahlia’s hand.

Mira's arms lowered, just slightly.

Outside, Rihanna was being pulled from a van by two loyal men. Her body limp, wounded—

—but breathing.

Dahlia [gently]:

“Mira,she’s safe. She's alive.”

[The gun clattered to the floor as Mira collapsed to her knees and amid the storm, the bar echoed with silence.]

One born not of fear—

—but of fragile, blooming hope.

[ Dahlia walks out last, gun low, eyes burning. Behind her, Blossom appears from an alley, umbrella tilted.]

Blossom (softly):

“You’re bleeding, boss.”

Dahlia (without looking at her):

“She was hurt.”

Blossom (smiling faintly):

“Ah. So it begins.”

---

[Narration]

They thought this was the end of a night. But for Dahlia and Hana, it was the beginning of something far more dangerous. And far more intimate.

soft tones of shadow and glow, dialogues flowing like whispered secrets beneath the moon.

[Scene opens in a quiet corner of Dahlia’s estate garden]

(Cherry blossoms shimmer under moonlight. The air is still, but tense. Hana walks barefoot, her gown trailing behind, lost in thought. Dahlia’s figure leans against a marble pillar, eyes closed, smoke curling from a half-burnt cigar.)

Dahlia (softly, opening her eyes):

“You’re walking around again at night, Hana…”

Hana (smiles faintly):

“And you’re smoking again… Didn’t you promise you’d stop if I stayed?”

[Narration – ink swirling like mist over petals]

(Her voice was light, but behind that smile… guilt trembled. Ever since Mira left without a goodbye, silence had nested in their home. Dahlia never spoke of the pain. Hana carried it for both of them but deep inside she was guilt redden)

Dahlia (approaches slowly, eyes dark with knowing):

“You’re still dreaming of her.”

Hana (gazes at the moon):

“She said goodbye with her eyes before the bullet ever did.”

[Flashback sequence — monochrome panels]

Gunshots. Blood spraying in slow motion. Rehana screaming. Mira turning her back to shield her. Then silence. A coma.

---

[Scene shift – Mira’s hospital room, USA]

(Monitors beep. Mira sleeps peacefully. Rihanna sits at her bedside, holding her hand, whispering stories from their past.)

Rihanna (voice trembling):

“You once told me you’d come back… even if the world forgot your name. So I waited… for two years. Please, Mira. Come back to me.”

She didn’t cry. Rehana never cried. But her grip tightened on Mira’s hand, as though if she held her hard enough, she’d anchor her soul back into the world.

---

[Scene – Inside an abandoned bar in the old district]

Characters emerge:

D.U. — Mary’s sharp-tongued friend, a tactician with an old revolver and sharper sarcasm.

Blossom — Dahlia’s long-lost mafia ally, now returned with her own agenda.

Evenie — Hana’s childhood friend, now a mole in a rival syndicate.

Kea — Hana’s mother, once thought dead, now living under a new name.

Blossom (arms crossed, sipping bourbon):

“So this is what Dahlia’s kingdom has become… love, tears, and whispered ghosts.”

D.U. (loading bullets):

“Be glad it’s still standing. The entire eastern faction is aligning with Mira’s father. War’s coming.”

Evenie (pulling her scarf tighter):

“They say she might wake up. If she does… the balance shifts.”

Everyone knew. Mira’s awakening wasn’t just a miracle. It was a signal. The game would reset.

---

[Scene – Back at Dahlia’s mansion]

(Hana leans on Dahlia’s chest, her voice muffled by fabric.)

Hana (softly):

“If Mira wakes up… would you fight again?”

Dahlia (pulls her close, voice quiet but steely):

“I only fight when someone tries to take you from me.”

---

[Final Panel of Chapter – Mira’s finger twitches on hospital bed]

A soft beep. Rihanna’s eyes widen. The monitor spikes.

[Narration – the calligraphic ink blooms like a petal]

Hope… breathes.