CHAPTER 2

                                    

                                          
                 The Shadows of Power
Choi Seungcheol sat in the darkness of the room, his gaze fixed on the glowing screen of his phone. A dozen unread messages blinked back at him, all from contacts tied to their next mission, but his mind was elsewhere. He leaned back in his chair, the weight of responsibility settling on him like a heavy cloak. His brothers were scattered around the room, each lost in their own thoughts, but he could feel the shared tension. It always lingered beneath the surface, a silent, suffocating presence that haunted them all.
The air felt stifling, thick with unspoken fears and the memories of past battles. Hoshi sat on the edge of a worn leather couch, his sharp eyes studying the large map spread across the table. He was the quiet one, the strategist who rarely spoke unless necessary, but when he did, it was with authority. A fierce loyalty to his brothers pulsed beneath his calm exterior. Seungcheol watched as Hoshi's eyes moved over the map, his mind already calculating their next steps, preparing for the mission ahead.
"We'll need to eliminate their key enforcers before making any noise," Hoshi finally said, his voice as steady as ever. "Take them out quietly. After that, Jun and I can move in."
Jun, who stood by the door with his arms crossed, gave a grunt of agreement. His face was stoic, but Seungcheol could sense the tension in his posture. Jun was always the warrior, the one who fought fiercely when their lives were on the line. But tonight, even he seemed more on edge than usual. This mission wasn't like the others. It was bigger, more dangerous, and failure would mean not just death, but the end of everything they had fought for.
Wonwoo paced the room, his fingers tapping rhythmically against his chin. His sharp mind was always two steps ahead, and Seungcheol knew that Wonwoo had already gone over every possible outcome of their plan. "Their intel is solid, but there's always a chance they'll anticipate our move," Wonwoo murmured, more to himself than to anyone else. "We need a backup plan."
"We have Dino for that," Hansol said from his spot on the floor, his head resting lazily against the wall. Despite his laid-back demeanor, Hansol's keen eyes missed nothing. He was their sniper, their sharpshooter, always ready to strike from the shadows. "If things go south, Dino can scramble their systems, buy us some time."
At the mention of his name, Dino's fingers froze above the keyboard in front of him. He had been typing away, trying to focus on cracking the enemy's firewalls, but Seungcheol had noticed the way his hands had been trembling all night. Dino was the youngest of them all, and while he had grown into his role as their hacker, the pressure of missions like this weighed heavily on him. Seungcheol's chest tightened as he watched the boy—no, he reminded himself, Dino wasn't a boy anymore. He was 18 now, but Seungcheol could still see the frightened child he had once been.
Dino was trying to hold it together, to be strong like his brothers, but Seungcheol saw through the facade. He always had. Dino had never been like them. While the rest of the group had hardened over the years, Dino had remained fragile in a way that scared Seungcheol. The world they lived in wasn't meant for someone like Dino, and as much as Seungcheol tried to protect him, there was only so much he could do.
Seungcheol's mind drifted back to the night they had all escaped the hellish cult that had kept them captive. Dino had only been six years old then, a scared little boy who had clung to Seungcheol as if his life depended on it. And in many ways, it had. Seungcheol had been 18 at the time, barely more than a child himself, but he had taken on the role of protector without hesitation. Dino had been the youngest, and Hansol, barely 10, had been the next in line. The older boys—Jun, Hoshi, and Wonwoo—had suffered through the worst of it, enduring the brutal torture and abuse, but Seungcheol had shielded Dino and Hansol from as much as he could.