Min's main headquarters was dimly lit. He stood in front of a large mirror in his private room, watching the fading reflection of himself. In his mind, the game was nearing its end—or so he thought.
"Everything is moving as planned," he whispered, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Jung Kok and Jung Joon are too busy trying to kill each other. They won't see what I've been building."
Elsewhere, far from Min's eyes, Jung Kok and Jung Joon were preparing their next steps. They were now secretly working together, hiding behind the facade of a long-standing rivalry. The USB drive handed to them by Yong Jin held the ultimate truth. It not only confirmed Min's betrayal but also exposed the real network of masterminds behind the bloody conflict.
"He's too confident. That's his weakness," said Jung Joon while analyzing a map of Min's territory.
"And we'll use that confidence to trap him," replied Jung Kok, his eyes burning with a rare determination that hadn't been seen since their family fell apart.
They staged a fake skirmish at the southern port—a strategic area Min believed was contested. The battle was carefully planned, convincing enough to seem real, but no one was truly harmed. Yong Jin, now serving as the main liaison between the brothers, fed false intel to Min to maintain the illusion that everything was going according to Min's plan.
"Min has started moving his men to the northern port," Yong Jin reported one night during a secret meeting under an old temple. "He wants to take full control before you two destroy each other."
"Good," said Jung Kok. "Let him taste that victory. While we quietly strip away every inch of his influence."
But not everything went smoothly. Some of Min's loyal subordinates were sharp and watchful. One of them, Ha Do-wan, began to grow suspicious of Jung Joon's movements, which appeared too organized.
"Why isn't he finishing off Jung Kok?" Ha Do-wan asked Min. "Their battles are too clean. No casualties. Too perfect."
Min turned to him, narrowing his eyes. For the first time, a flicker of doubt crossed his face. He didn't say anything out loud, but the seed of suspicion had been planted.
In another corner of the city, Choi Dae-gun was growing restless. He hadn't received direct communication from Min in a while, and his moves were becoming bolder. What he didn't know was that every step he made was now being watched.
One night, while Choi was overseeing a secret arms shipment in an underground warehouse, his team was ambushed. There were no clear signs of who had launched the attack, but the message was clear—someone was seeking revenge.
"This isn't Jung Kok's work," he muttered, clutching a bleeding wound on his shoulder. "This… is something else."
From the shadows above the warehouse, Jung Joon watched coldly.
"Begin phase two," he said into his radio, speaking to Jung Kok.
At the same time, Min received word of the attack on Choi Dae-gun. His expression shifted—and this time, he knew something was wrong. He entered his private intelligence room and replayed all the surveillance reports he had collected over the months. One by one, he compared every detail.
"Jung Kok shouldn't have known about Dae-gun's operation… unless…"
He stood up, anger and anxiety coursing through him. For the first time in a long time, Min felt a knot of fear twist in his chest. He grabbed his phone and dialed Jung Kok's number.
No answer.
Then he tried Jung Joon.
Silence.
A single message appeared on his phone screen, with no sender name:
"Your every move… now lives in the mirror you shattered yourself."
Min looked toward the large mirror in the room—and saw his own reflection, cracked and broken, staring back at him from the glass he had long ignored.
(To be continued)