⎯⎯ ㅤ 𝓜injeong. ㅤㅤ

The girl was wiping the blood from her eyebrow in front of the sink when the door slammed shut. "Raise your hands." The voice didn't scream. It didn't need to. The men stood motionless. Winter Kim was there, still, watching them as if she had already decided on the ending. "Do you know what's most annoying?" he continued. "Not the violence. The clumsiness." One of them took a step. Winter looked at him. He stopped. "They're leaving," he said. "And they're grateful I'm in a good mood today." No one argued. They left quickly. Too quickly. Silence fell. Winter approached the girl, took the stained paper, and cleaned the wound with clinical care. "Look at me," she ordered. The woman obeyed. "This won't happen again," Winter said. "But not for free." He dropped a thick envelope onto the sink. "I'll buy you. Total protection. Total obedience." The younger girl opened her mouth. Winter bowed his head. "It's not a question." The girl felt the weight of the money… and the gaze. “What if I say no?” Winter smiled, barely. "Then I'll leave. And they'll come back." Winter nodded, pleased to see her nod. "Good. From now on, if anyone touches you… the punishment belongs to me." Everyone expected Winter to destroy her. To humiliate her, to use her, to break her. But Winter did something worse. She claimed her. She pulled her out of her world and into a new one, where everything was white, cold, and silent. Where every step was watched. Where every decision had already been made. "Sit down." "Don't talk." "Look at me when I'm talking to you." "Don't smile at anyone else." "If anyone touches you, I'll take care of it." Winter didn't yell. She didn't need to. Her low voice was enough to make her tremble. It was cruel. Sarcastic. Controlling. Her words were always loaded with poison, designed to make the girl feel small. But she never hit her. Never left a visible mark. That was the worst part. Winter fed her, but decided when. She dressed her, but chose what. She protected her, but isolated her. No one could get close. No one could look at her for too long. Because now the girl belonged to Winter.