The rooftop air was biting, a sharp contrast to the suffocating silence of the penthouse office below. Ji-Hoon stood at the very edge, the city lights of Seoul sprawling beneath him like a carpet of cold diamonds. In his hand, his phone screen had just gone dark.
He didn't realize he was speaking aloud until the words left his lips, sounding hollow against the wind.
"Just a dinner for him," he muttered, a dry, ragged breath escaping him that was almost a laugh. "Not even a 'Happy Birthday, Ji-Hoon.' Just... 'make sure the car is ready for your brother.'" He stared at the darkened glass in his palm. "Why did I even hope for something else?"
He looked like a castaway in a suit. The "Ice King" of the business world, the man whose name made boardrooms tremble, was suddenly just a boy counting his scars in the dark.
"It might not mean much coming from a partner in crime," a quiet voice carried over the wind.
Ji-Hoon stiffened, he slowly turned to see Yoona standing by the rooftop door. She looked small against the vast skyline, but her gaze was steadier than any of his business rivals.
"But Happy Birthday, Ji-Hoon," she said softly. "I remembered."
Silence stretched between them. It wasn't the cold silence of a boardroom, but something fragile.
"How long..." Ji-Hoon cleared his throat, his voice sounding raw. He took a breath and tried again. "How long have you been standing there, Yoona?"
It wasn't a CEO's demand. It was the question of a man wondering how much of his shattered heart she had just seen.
"Long enough to know that the Ice King's crown is a lot heavier than people realize," she replied. She stepped forward, reaching into her pocket to pull out a small, slightly crumpled chocolate bar.
She didn't know why she was doing it. Her own birthday was a day she usually spent in silence—it was the anniversary of her mother's death, a day that felt more like a funeral than a celebration. But seeing him like this made her heart ache.
"It's not a five-course meal," she said, holding it out.
Ji-Hoon took it, his fingers brushing hers. The warmth of the contact was the first thing he'd felt all day.
Yoona tilted her head toward the exit. "You could go to the dinner and be the CEO. Or, you could come with me. There's a ramen shop two blocks away. We can grab a bowl and finally finish that maths project. My treat."
The ramen shop was a world of steam and chipped porcelain. Ji-Hoon sat on a plastic stool, looking painfully out of place in his designer suit. Yoona had to show him everything—how to snap the wooden chopsticks, how to pay at the machine, and eventually, how to slurp the noodles.
"You're doing it wrong," she teased, already halfway through her bowl. "If you eat it that slowly, the noodles get soggy. Slurp. It cools the soup."
"Slurp? In public?" Ji-Hoon asked, horrified.
"Try it" she said, leaning in.
He did. And for the first time in seventeen years, the tension in his shoulders vanished. As they moved on to their math textbooks, the "Ice King" found it impossible to focus. He kept watching the way the dim light reflected in Yoona's eyes.A warm, steady feeling he had never known rising from his heart.
"Wow," Yoona whispered, noticing his blank notebook. "The legendary Ji-Hoon is being defeated by... basic calculus?"
"I'm not being defeated," he muttered, a genuine smile tugging at his lips. "I'm just... checking the logic."
"Checking the logic for five minutes?" She poked his notebook. "Is the ramen too spicy for your high-class palate, or is your brain finally melting?"
"It wasn't the spice," he admitted, leaning forward to match her energy. "And for the record, you missed a negative sign in step three. If I'm failing, you're coming down with me."
yoona said "Oh,you know what i don't feel like doing math right now.Anyway did youu see hana today she was having big fight with her boyfriend, if i heard it clearly because he took 15 minutes to tell her she is beautiful."
"Is this what you listen to in school yoona"
"Come on tell did you hear it"
Ji was a little suorised to see the 'silkblade' listening to gossip but "No, I didn't. But I did saw the schools top couple runing away from the dean"
"Wow! I was just checking never thought you focus on what others do,Ji" yoona siad with a chuckle and wide eyes.
Ji said with a rare smile on his lips "Well I usually don't care what oy=thers do but school has interesting things happening unlike in the board room or the elite cycle, plus if you listen to gossip why can't I"
They stayed like that for an hour, talking about nothing in particular—moldy coffee mugs in the biology lab, school gossip, and the ridiculousness of the principal's speeches. For a few minutes, they weren't the "Iron Ace" or the "Silk Blade." They were just teenagers.
Then, the phone buzzed. "FATHER."
The "Wolf" returned instantly. Ji-Hoon's posture straightened, his voice turning sharp and clinical as he took the call. "Yes, Father... I understand. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
He hung up, the boy from the ramen shop disappearing behind a thick wall of glass. "I have to go," he said.
"Should I come too?" Yoona asked suddenly.
Ji-Hoon froze. "To my house? Yoona, you know what it's like there. It's no place for a 'teenager.'"
"I know exactly what it's like," she said, standing up. "That's why I'm asking. Partners don't let partners walk into a trap alone."
The silence inside the sedan was heavy, broken only by the low hum of the engine. Yoona leaned her head against the cool glass of the window, her heart racing.
What am I doing? She looked at her reflection in the dark window, then at Ji-Hoon. He was back in "CEO mode," his jaw set and his eyes fixed on the road ahead, but his hand was still resting near that inner pocket where the chocolate was hidden.
Yoona felt a wave of cold panic. She had spent years making sure no one could touch her, making sure she never felt responsible for anyone else's pain. Her mother's death had taught her that caring was a death sentence. Yet here she was, voluntarily walking into the "Ice King's" fortress.
She told herself it was for the Revenge Plan. She told herself she needed to study the enemy—his father, the Chairman. But deep down, she knew that was a lie. She had offered to come because when he asked "How long have you been standing there?" his voice had sounded like a glass breaking.
She hated it. She hated that she had a "reason unknown" to protect him. She hated that for the first time in years, she wasn't running away—she was running toward someone else's fire.
Ji-Hoon suddenly spoke, his voice low, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Yoona? You're gripping your bag so hard your knuckles are white. If you want to turn back, I can tell the driver to stop."
Yoona loosened her grip, forcing a sharp, defensive smirk back onto her face. "And miss the chance to see the look on your brother's face when he sees me? Not a chance, Ji-Hoon. Just don't expect me to be polite to your father."