The cold, damp air of the restricted hallway felt like it was thickening, turning into a physical weight that pressed against Vivian's chest. She backed into the rough concrete wall, her frame shaking so violently that her teeth threatened to chatter. Before her stood Baek Soryeon, a man who seemed carved from shadow and malice. He stepped closer, his movements calm—terrifyingly calm—as gray plumes of cigarette smoke drifted past his smirking lips.
"Why..just why?" Vivian's whisper was a cracked, fragile thing, barely audible over the distant thumping of the club's bass.
Baek Soryeon lifted a hand slowly, his gesture almost gentle, though his eyes remained sharp and mocking. "Oh, sweetheart… you look terrified," he cooed, the words dripping with a fake, oily sympathy. Tears began to spill down Vivian's cheeks, hot and stinging, as she stood frozen and trembling under his gaze.
He didn't pull away. Instead, his fingertips brushed her skin as he gently tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. The touch was light, but it felt like a brand. "Two days," he murmured, the silence that followed stretching into an eternity. "I'll give you two days to decide… whether you want to live or not."
Vivian flinches, her breath catching in her throat like a trapped bird. Baek turned to leave, his voice trailing over his shoulder as he disappeared into the red-lit gloom. "Think carefully, babygirl."
The transition back to her reality was a hard, jarring thud into darkness. Two days later, Vivian lay curled up on her thin mattress in her derelict apartment, her body still racking with tremors. The only light in the room was the sickly yellow glow of a streetlamp leaking through the broken blinds. She stared into the nothingness of her future until a sharp bing cut through the silence.
Her phone screen lit up on the nightstand, casting a harsh white glare.
Sender: UNKNOWN NUMBER
"4 hours left till your time is over."
The phone vibrated again almost instantly, a second message appearing like a final warning.
"Then the world will either hear the news of you becoming my wife… or a criminal. Choice is yours."
Vivian's breath stuttered. Her hands shook so violently she could barely grip the device. With a sense of soul-crushing defeat, she slowly typed out three words that sealed her fate: "I'll marry you." Her finger hesitated over the screen for a heartbeat before she finally hit send.
The reply was instant, as if he had been waiting with his finger on the trigger.
"I knew you were smart. Good girl. A car will pick you up. 8 a.m."
Vivian dropped the phone as if it had burned her, covering her mouth as she began to hyperventilate in the dark.
The next morning, the grime of the slums was replaced by the glass and steel of BLACK ROSE LABELS. Vivian sat stiffly on a designer leather couch in the CEO's lavish office, her head bowed as she stared at her own lap. The door swung open, and Baek Soryeon entered, followed by a loyal assistant carrying a small, velvet-lined box.
"Sir," the assistant said, bowing slightly as he handed over the box. Baek flipped it open to reveal a cold, expensive diamond ring that glittered heartlessly in the morning sun.
"Hand," Baek commanded. When Vivian hesitated, his patience evaporated. He reached out and grabbed her wrist with a bruising grip, forcing her hand up. She watched, numb, as he slipped the heavy stone onto her finger.
"Perfect," he remarked, his voice devoid of warmth. He turned to his assistant with the tone of a king issuing a decree. "Publish the announcement. Former influencer-singer Vivian Ahn is returning as a soloist under Black Rose Labels… and she will soon be marrying me." He paused, his gaze darkening. "And concerning her little financial problem... Make those rats disappear. Permanently. I do not tolerate noise around my wife."
As the assistant bowed and left, Soryeon turned back to Vivian. The icy professional mask melted instantly into a perfectly fabricated, warm expression—a loving, possessive smile that never quite reached his eyes. Vivian sat in silence, the fear of the loan sharks finally gone, only to be replaced by the absolute terror of her "savior."
One week later, the transformation was complete. The bridal suite was a flurry of activity, filled with bright white bulbs and the constant chatter of stylists. Vivian sat in a silk robe, her expression dead-eyed and vacant while women fussed over her.
"Your skin is glowing today!" one stylist chirped. "CEO Baek's wife is truly beautiful," another added, but Vivian remained a statue, unresponsive to the praise.
The door swung open, and Baek Soryeon entered in an immaculate wedding suit. "Wow… my wife looks breathtaking," he said, his fake warmth charming the room. The stylists laughed politely and, at his subtle nod, gathered their things and left.
As the door clicked shut, the silence became heavy. Baek walked behind Vivian slowly, his reflection looming over hers in the mirror. He placed his hands on her shoulders, his grip tightening until she winced in pain.
"Act like the happiest woman alive today," he whispered into her ear. Without warning, he produced a small, sharp blade. He pressed it gently but firmly into her shouldsavio
Vivian gasped, a thin line of crimson appearing on her pale skin. "Hhh—!"
In the mirror, Baek was smiling—a cold, terrifying expression that contrasted with her tear-filled eyes. "Good girl. Now let's go greet our guests."
Her wedding day wasn't a celebration. It was the funeral of her freedom.