Lunar Rose

Episode 4 – Lunar Rose

Jae Min had finally crossed every hurdle. The grueling exams, the sleepless nights, the bruises and failures that nearly broke him—he overcame them all. When he entered the police academy, he was just another cadet. But soon, it was clear: he was different. Running, shooting, combat, strategy—everything sharpened under his touch, as if his body and mind had always been carved for this path.

Years passed in a blur of sweat and discipline. Medals gleamed on his chest, silver catching the light whenever he walked through the station halls. Colleagues respected his skill, criminals feared the fire in his eyes, and the women around him mistook his kindness for affection. But Jae Min’s heart was untouched. He smiled politely, laughed when he had to, but every night when silence wrapped around him, only one name echoed in the hollow of his chest.

Mira.

Seven years had slipped by, yet she remained as vivid in his memory as the day she vanished. He often caught himself wondering, Will I ever see her again? Or was she only meant to exist in my past?

But Mira’s past had carried her to a place far darker than Jae Min could ever imagine.

One night, beneath the dim glow of a broken streetlight in a deserted garden, she stood face to face with a man trembling from addiction. His hands shook as he extended a packet toward her.

“Try this,” he rasped, grinning through yellowed teeth. “One hit, and you’ll forget everything.”

Mira’s eyes, sharp and unyielding, didn’t waver. “I don’t want your drugs. I want the man who gave them to you.”

The addict laughed, a dry, mocking sound—until cold steel pressed against his throat. Mira’s hand was steady, the knife gleaming faintly in the shadows.

“Tell me who your boss is,” she whispered, her voice low and cutting, “or I’ll bury you under this garden tonight.”

His bravado shattered instantly. With shaking fingers, he scribbled a number onto a crumpled scrap of paper before stumbling into the darkness, desperate to escape the woman who looked more like death than salvation.

That number led Mira into the world she never thought she’d step into.

The man she met was wealthy, arrogant, and powerful—the kind who believed fear was the only currency worth trading. He looked at her with disdain, his words dripping like poison.

“If you turn back now,” he warned, “you’ll see hell.”

Mira smirked, bitter and broken. “I’ve already lived in hell. So tell me—what new one could you possibly show me?”

The man studied her, intrigued. “Interesting. No fear at all?”

“I had fear once,” she replied. “But when you’ve lost everything… nothing can hurt you anymore. Live or die—it doesn’t matter to me.”

For the first time, his lips curved into something resembling respect. “If you’re going to work under me, you’ll need a name. Something people will remember. How about… Lunar Rose?”

The words lingered in the air, unfamiliar yet oddly fitting. Mira tilted her head slightly, testing them on her tongue. “Lunar Rose,” she repeated softly. “That sounds fine.”

And in that moment, Mira ceased to exist. Lunar Rose was born.

Years under his wing forged her into steel. She learned the art of deals, the science of deception, the precision of pulling a trigger. She played the role of apprentice well, but quietly she built herself into more than that. By the time cancer finally claimed the man’s life, he had already declared her his successor.

“If I die,” he rasped to his men with his final strength, “your leader… will be Lunar Rose.”

And when his coffin was lowered into the earth, Mira’s reign began.

She didn’t just inherit his empire—she transformed it. New smuggling routes, cleverer disguises, international dealings that left rivals in ashes. Fluent in English, she sealed contracts with drug lords across oceans, her words as sharp as her bullets. At her side was always the gun her mentor had given her, a weapon she swore to protect with her life.

By day, she was a shadow among ordinary crowds, walking unnoticed like any other woman. By night, she ruled as the queen of the underworld, feared, respected, untouchable—Lunar Rose.

But even in her power, even in the empire she had built from grief and rage, there were nights when the world was silent and she closed her eyes. And in that silence, she saw her parents’ faces. She heard their laughter, felt their warmth—until the ache in her chest brought her back to the cold.

And in those same nights, she thought of Jae Min. Her lost classmate. Her silent comfort. Her only reminder of the life that might have been. She searched for him in every city she passed, scanning faces in crowded stations, watching men in uniforms with fleeting hope.

But fate, cruel as ever, kept them apart.

Two lives. Two destinies.

A police officer sworn to justice.

A queen of crime built from loss.

And though years and worlds separated them, one truth remained—both hearts were still searching for each other.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***