A spy had escaped.

After being held captive for days tortured to spill what information he had, and who sent him. Thomas Foss was now running for his life. It was a Thursday night when he broke free, his body barely holding itself together, blood leaking from an open wound on his arm. He stumbled through dark alleys like a hunted animal.

Loac’s men had been tracking him down relentlessly. But when it started getting sloppy, Loac took matters into his own hands.

And now, he had found him.

The trail of blood was too easy to follow. Thomas, in his desperation, had hidden behind a dumpster in a commercial residential area. Of all places to play hide and seek, he had picked the worst one. Loac gritted his teeth. He had to be careful, not too much noise. A gunshot here would bring questions. It was late. People were asleep. And Loac was at a disadvantage.

But Thomas was slowing down. The bastard had become easier to spot, dragging himself along, crouching behind every corner. He was losing steam. He was bleeding out. The chase was about to end.

Then came the mistake.

One wrong turn.

Thomas had backed himself into a narrow alleyway with an open intercept from the side ,a mistake Loac did not waste. He took the second turn, aimed fast, and launched a knife with precision. It struck Thomas clean in the thigh.

The scream was sharp and immediate, echoing into the night.

Loac stalked forward like a predator, his eyes calm but lethal.

“Please, please, I’d confess! Just spare me!” the man cried, his hands trembling as he clawed at the air for mercy.

Loac sighed.

“Why do you lowlives do this? Every single time,” he drawled out, voice smooth like poison. “You get caught, struggle, then start begging for your lives…”

He stepped forward, staring down at the broken man.

“I mean... why even bother trying?”

“Please, I have a kid! I beg you, please, I have a fa—”

Before he could finish, three quick shots rang out. Muffled, clean. All to the head.

“Scum.”

Loac crouched, unfazed, and rummaged through the body. He found the hard drive tucked inside the man’s pocket. Mission complete.

But then he heard it.

Footsteps.

Cautious. Light. Trying not to be noticed.

He straightened immediately, gun still in hand, pointed down at the corpse.

A figure stood a distance away.

“A woman? No, it can’t be…” he thought quickly. “A man. Too tall, too confident to be a woman.”

He narrowed his eyes.

A civilian. Shit.

They had seen everything.

He locked eyes with the stranger. Tall. About six feet. Long black hair. His skin glowed pale under the bad lighting. And the final detail, a spider tattoo crawling up his forearm.

The stranger didn’t scream. Didn’t flee. He smiled.

“Huh?... Or am I mistaken?” Loac blinked.

The man turned and walked away, as if he had seen nothing.

Loac remained frozen for a second, but quickly regained his composure. He couldn’t afford to be sloppy. His clean-up crew would be here in minutes to take care of the blood and the body. But the witness… he’d handle personally.

24 Hours Later

His intel team worked faster than expected. Even with limited data, they found him.

Kai Tenzen. Twenty-four. Japanese. Black hair. Black eyes. The only relative listed was his eight-year-old sister, Mitsuri Tenzen, currently in the hospital. Terminal case. Orphans.

Loac leaned back in his chair, reading the report, his fingers drumming slowly against the mahogany table.

“Interesting… young too,” he murmured.

He handed the report to his right-hand man. “Bring him to me.”

It turned out Kai didn’t come quietly.

One of his men had a broken nose. The other, a busted lip.

Loac was… curious.

When Kai was dragged in, hands bound behind his back , he was met with a surprise. Not what he expected at all.

This wasn’t some cowering witness. No. This was the most beautiful man he’d ever laid eyes on.

Eyes black like coal. Inked skin. Hair falling past slender but firm shoulders. He looked dangerous. Fragile, too, but in a way that invited curiosity. And rage.

Loac didn’t smile. But his interest was obvious.

Their conversations were filled with anger and rage, the kind that sparked like wires stripped too raw. Kai left no room for meekness, his voice, his eyes, his posture all screamed defiance. So after tricking him into signing that cursed contract, Loac had him snipped with a drug to knock him out. It wasn’t personal. Kai had let his curiosity get the better of him, and Loac took full advantage.

The noise started just after midnight. His men had been whispering outside his room, not wanting to disturb him, but the ruckus was enough to catch Loac’s attention. One of them stepped forward nervously.

“He’s awake,” the guard said, stiff as a board.

Loac didn’t flinch. He stood slowly, slid his jacket on with casual grace, and gave a cool smile. “Looks like he’s awake,” he repeated. “I’d go say hello.”

Kai hadn’t changed much in that short window of unconsciousness, still as bold as ever. But somehow, seeing him a second time… he appeared even more beautiful.

Loac couldn’t help himself.

How soft are those strands? He wondered without apology as he approached him in the dimly lit room. So he checked, his fingers reached forward, hand gripping black strands tighter than needed. It wasn't curiosity. It was possession disguised as interest. The strands slipped from his fingers like silk, and he let go.

He should’ve stopped there, but his curiosity itched again. His fingers twitched with the desire to touch pale skin, to trace the sharp cut of Kai’s waist, to inhale the scent he remembered faintly from earlier. The opportunity came easy.

They were seated at his dining table, two men, enemies or something like it, eating in silence until Loac stood, three fast steps was all it too to pin him against the wall.

A warning, he called it.

His hand grazed Kai’s neck, fingers teasing against his nape and under his ear, a little rougher than necessary. His thumb slid against his jawline.

“Discipline,” he thought simply, as if that justified anything.

Kai didn’t flinch, but Loac saw the sharp intake of breath. He felt the heat rise between them.

Later that evening, Loac sat alone in his study when a man entered with a tablet. “The mission’s done,” the guard announced.

A video played. Kai shaking Peter’s hand, signal clear. The exchange went smoothly. Another video played, this one grainy: Kai running off into the shadows.

Loac said nothing.

He had Kai tracked, of course. But he gave no orders to intercept. No reason to drag him back.

He had his methods.

Kai would return on his own. He always would.

It didn’t take much. Finding Kai’s sister’s hospital was a matter of one phone call. Her room number, even easier. Bribing the nurses? Child’s play.

Who could resist a good-looking man holding a giant teddy bear?

Room 304. A soft knock. He entered with his signature smile. Mitsuri Tenzen, young, delicate, all bright eyes and an IV in her arm, gasped and giggled at the bear. He handed it over without a word. lies told, "I'm your brother's boss."

And that’s when Kai appeared.

There stood Kai. Eyes like burning coals, veins nearly bursting from his temple.

He looked like he could kill Loac.

But Loac wasn’t intimidated. If anything, he was curious again.

That scent—faint and clean and something he couldn’t name.

He wanted it again.

So he took the opportunity.

Before Kai could speak, even.with his collar in his fist, Loac pushed him against the wall. Not too hard. Just enough. One hand pressed to his chest. The other curled at the back of his head.

He leaned in, breathing deep. Inhaling him.

Kai shoved at him.

But the real punishment hadn’t even started.

Now Kai was back.

Back where he belonged.

Loac’s room was dark, only a low lamp on the side table casting shadows. Kai was tied to the bed, wrists bound tight with leather restraints. A blindfold slipped over his eyes. A gag against his mouth.

A punishment, Loac called it.

The only way this itch could die down.

He sat beside the bed, watching Kai’s chest rise and fall in slow, angry rhythm. He ran fingers down his stomach, not to tease this time, but to memorize.

“This,” he said, quiet and low. “This is the price of curiosity.”

Kai groaned behind the gag.

And Loac smiled, satisfied.

“You were curious, weren't you?” he whispered, voice close to his ear. “This. This is what happens when you get curious kai, you wanted to see what I'd do if you if you misbehaved didn't you?”

He leaned back, expression unreadable.

“I'd show you.”

Oh yes… he was going to have fun with this one.