(Arc 1 : The raven and the dragon)

Dodging various passersby, Ashlay and the stranger, closely followed by Gwenval, ran through the park. It was all so sudden. Gwenval's heart was racing. The person who had been threatening him finally showed himself. The suspect threw several obstacles in his way. Whether it was small installations or people, to obstruct the path of those who were chasing him.
Suddenly, after a bend in the road, he disappeared.

"Where did he go?" Exclaimed Gwenval when he reached Ashlay.

The two men took a few seconds to look around. "He" couldn't have vanished into thin air.

"Over there!"

Gwenval had spotted the runaway, whose head poked out from behind a tree. The chase resumed. In no time, they reached one of the park's exits. A crosswalk was nearby. People had just finished crossing and the light was green for cars. The unknown man paid no attention to the rules of the road and ran across, avoiding several vehicles.

The musician, who had taken the lead, was about to cross the street, unaware of the danger he was exposed to.

"Gwenval!"

In his haste, the musician had not noticed that a car was coming straight at him. Ashlay, who had managed to catch up with him, suddenly pulled him back to avoid an accident. The man they were chasing then ran into a subway station.

As soon as the pedestrian light turned green, Ashlay and Gwenval rushed into the subway station, but it was too late. The crowds made it difficult to spot anyone clearly. They still tried to find the stranger, but without success.

"Let's go back..." Gwenval announced emotionlessly.

"Gwen..."

The two men took the opposite way back to Ashlay's car.

Near another exit of the same subway, hidden near an alley, a shadowy figure watched the duo leave.

"I'll make you pay. I'll make you pay. Just die. Disappear..." The sinister man muttered these words over and over again, keeping his gaze fixed on the musician.

A heavy silence reigned throughout the journey to take Gwenval home. By the time he reached his destination, Gwenval still hadn't uttered a word.

"Gwen Gwen?" Ashlay asked softly.

"Hmm?" Gwenval snapped out of a deep thought...

"Are you all right?"

"Yes. I'm fine..." 

Gwenval nodded, then fell silent again.

"... Thanks for earlier..."

" "Earlier" ?"

"On the crosswalk..."

"Ah!" Ashlay remembered the scene. "You're welcome, Gwen Gwen." Ashlay smiled at him.

At a moment like this, Ashlay would have liked to hug Gwenval or even hold his hand.

The sound of a message broke the silence. It came from Ashlay's phone.

"Secretary Shin sent me a summary of everything that's been organized for the exhibition. He also sent me a picture of the invitation that will be sent to all guests, take a look." He leaned slightly towards Gwenval to show him the various messages.

Gwenval glanced at the phone, but didn't really have anything to think about. Then he looked at Ashlay for a moment. The young heir was disturbed by this sudden attention and stared at the musician for a few seconds before stepping back, a little embarrassed.

"Is something bothering you? I can ask you to make some changes."

"No, there's no need. It is all perfect. I hope everything goes well. Sorry, I'm tired... See you tomorrow..." Gwenval answered, opening the car door.

Ashlay just had time to utter a weak "See you tomorrow" to the musician. He kept his eyes on him until he entered the apartment building. Then he picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, secretary Shin, you can send out the invitations."

"Don't worry, Gwen Gwen..."

Back at home, Gwenval remained silent for a long moment in the dark. He wanted to break something. Suddenly he felt a warm body on his legs. Finally, he turned on the light and grabbed whatever was at his feet.

"Meow..."

"Hello, Eika."

The female Maine Coon with the black fur, mewed softly as she looked at her master. She seemed to want to comfort him. Gwenval carried her to the sofa and cuddled her. As he caressed her, he began to feel a little better.

____

By 11:30 p.m., a line had formed outside one of Hongdae's most popular nightclubs. Young people in all kinds of outfits were eager to party all night.

Two burly men in black suits were standing at the entrance as bouncers.

Two girls were chatting happily in line when one of them was distracted by something across the street. She immediately motioned to her friend, who turned to see what it was. Other young women looked in the same direction with great interest.

A black Hyundai Nexo had just pulled into the small parking lot across the street from the club. The driver was a handsome young man, about six feet tall, in his early twenties. He crossed the street to the entrance of the club. A lot of people, especially the women, were fascinated by the man. Some, however, seemed slightly uncomfortable.

Dressed in a high-collared sweater, pants, and a long coat, his ensemble was all black.

The dark, handsome stranger stopped a few meters away from the bouncers, then pulled out his smartphone to dial a number.

"I've arrived..." He said casually.

He hung up after listening to his interlocutor's answer, and put the phone in his coat. Then he approached the bouncers. Unlike the usual clubbers, the young man didn't seem very enthusiastic about being there. You could almost read on his forehead: "I want to go home."

A few seconds after the call, one of the bouncers received a message on his earpiece. He looked at the mysterious young man and examined him from top to bottom before he and his colleague stepped aside to let him go inside.

"Have a good time." The two bouncers mechanically wished him.

The music was loud, the lights were blinding and psychedelic, and people were dancing and drinking everywhere, indifferent to everything. The young man really felt out of place.

"Bai! My savior! You've finally arrived! Right on time! Come, let's not waste time. I've got a business to run." A man shouted happily from a corridor to Hao Ming's right.

Hao Ming greeted the person who had welcomed him so warmly and said nothing. He just followed him. That man was the manager of the nightclub and must have been five or six years older than Hao Ming.

Just like the people outside, some of the people inside showed an uneasy expression when they saw Hao Ming.

With his outfit, his slicked-back black hair, and his piercing gaze, Hao Ming looked like a young Chinese mafioso who had come to do business with the boss of the place. No one could guess the real reason for his presence.

A few minutes later, Hao Ming and the man guiding him arrived at the club's computer control room. Two security guards were waiting for them.

The first thing they noticed was that several screens were displaying a blue screen.

"How long do you think it'll take to fix everything?" The manager asked nervously.

"It depends on the damage..."

Hao Ming took off his coat, rolled up the sleeves of his sweater, and sat down in front of the main computer to analyze the system.

While preparing for the club's opening today, the manager had been informed that a large part of the establishment's computer system had been corrupted by an unknown virus. He suspected a competitor was behind the attack. Not knowing what to do, he called Hao Ming to the rescue.

They weren't friends, but they had known each other for a long time. Hao Ming had agreed to help him for free, as the manager had helped him get customers for Jade Shielding in its early days...

"Ten minutes." Hao Ming announced.

Then he opened a command on the central computer, made some manipulations and entered a series of lines of code.

In almost ten minutes, everything was back to normal. Hao Ming then took the liberty of installing a personal program to strengthen the system.

"You're amazing, Bai! A real magician! What would I have done without you?" The manager was even happier than before.

"Now that that's done, I'm going home." Hao Ming informed the manager as he put his coat back on and yawned.

"What?! No! The night has just begun, and I have to thank you properly." The manager gave Hao Ming a little push.

"But..."

"No buts! Guys, bring more bottles to my VIP room!" He ordered the agents they'd entered with earlier. "Bai, you have to have fun sometimes in your life."

The two men bowed and left to carry out the order they had just been given. The manager and Hao Ming also left the room and went upstairs to the VIP room.

"Hyung, you really don't have to do this."

"I insist on it. Some of my friends are here too. They're dying to meet you. You can't disappoint me now, Bai."

"hú li..."( * fox or sneaky and treacherous person )

Hao Ming took a deep breath and reluctantly agreed to follow the manager. This man had a bad habit of making connections with influential people just to flatter his ego and give the impression that he was part of high society.

In the VIP room, there were four other men who looked to be in their thirties, wearing expensive accessories. Next to them were one or two women, and on the table in the middle of the room was a lot of liquor and appetizers. The men were already quite tipsy.

"You're back already!" Exclaimed one of them.

"Who's your new friend?" Asked another.

"This is the CEO of Jade Shielding, Bai Hao Ming! We've known each other for a while, and we help each other out from time to time."

"Oh! Is that him? He's much younger than I thought! How old are you?"

"I'm 24 years old."

"Wow! Come and sit with us!" The fourth man reacts.

Along with the manager, Hao Ming went to find a seat. He sat on the edge of the sofa, close to the exit. Shortly after, the security guards from earlier entered the room with bottles of alcohol and food. They were accompanied by two pretty young women. They had come to the club to have some fun. When it was suggested that they could come into this room where they would get free drinks, they jumped at the chance. They stood on either side of Hao Ming and one of them poured him a glass of whiskey.

"No thanks, I came by car." He gently refused.

"Come on, Bai, have a drink! We'll call a driver if necessary." The manager suggested.

Hao Ming drank a glass and then pretended to drink a few more. Time passed and everyone except Hao Ming was heavily intoxicated. He took the opportunity to leave, claiming he had to go to the bathroom.

Outside the VIP room, he called out to one of the two security guards stationed at the door.

"Good evening. If mister Choi is looking for me, tell him I wasn't feeling well and left."

After saying that, he took some bills out of his wallet and divided them between the two guards, then headed for the stairs to go downstairs.

From his position, he noticed that a waitress seemed to be having trouble with some young men. One of them was holding her right wrist and trying to force her to drink with him, which she refused.

"Come and have a few drinks, it won't hurt you." The man holding the waitress offered.

"I'm sorry, sir, I'm still on duty, I can't..." The young woman tried in vain to explain.

The man, already very drunk, wouldn't listen. He took some money out of his jacket and tried to put it in the waitress's shirt. By reflex, she pushed the man onto the sofa behind him.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!"

In a fit of rage, the man stood up, grabbed a still-full glass of alcohol from the table, and gestured to throw the contents of the glass at the waitress, who screamed in anticipation.

A few people around the table were startled by the scream and the music stopped. Security then surrounded the table where the incident occurred.

The waitress, who had closed her eyes, was surprised when she opened them to see that her clothes were dry and that a person was standing in front of her.

"Who are you?! Her boyfriend? You... you're going to do what?"

Hao Ming wiped the whiskey dripping down his face with one hand. He was even more annoyed than earlier.

"I'm just a guy who wants to go home and sleep." Hao Ming replied nonchalantly.

For no apparent reason, the man tried to hit Hao Ming, who easily subdued him. The man was then handed over to security, who threw him out of the club. The people who were with him followed. The musical atmosphere gradually returned and everyone soon forgot about the incident. The waitress thanked Hao Ming warmly and went back to work.

Hao Ming finally went to the bathroom to wash his face and get rid of the smell of alcohol.

"You were really heroic just now." A honeyed voice commented behind him.

As he straightened up, Hao Ming was astonished by the appearance of the person standing behind him.

"An angel!"