The Mafia's Obsssesion
Chapter -1
The city called him pretty.
Too pretty.
Pretty enough for strangers to mistake him for a girl from behind.
Pretty enough for relatives to sigh, "Why can't you look more manly?"
Nani never cared.
He simply stared at them with his quiet face and replied-
"Sounds like your problem."
That usually ended the conversation.
...
"Nani! Stop being childish!"
His father's voice echoed through the mansion.
The dining room felt colder than winter.
Across the table sat Niran.
A wealthy businessman.
A widower.
Two children.
Almost twice Nani's age.
Niran smiled politely.
"I'll treat him well."
Nani looked him up and down for a long second before speaking with the most innocent expression imaginable.
"...Eww."
Silence.
"No."
Another silence.
"I'm not marrying a second-hand person."
A glass shattered somewhere.
His father's face turned purple.
"NANI!"
"I'm serious."
"Niran is offering to save this family!"
"I'd rather eat instant noodles forever."
"You ungrateful brat!"
Nani stood up.
"No means no."
His father slammed both hands on the table.
"You don't get to choose!"
...
Three hours later.
Nani chose anyway.
He quietly packed a suitcase.
Stuffed his skincare pouch inside.
His favorite hoodie.
A plush keychain.
Phone charger.
Wallet.
Then...
He shamelessly borrowed his father's credit card.
"I'll return it... eventually."
Maybe.
Probably.
...
The original plan was simple.
Run to the west side of the country.
Stay hidden.
Start over.
Unfortunately...
Nani possessed one extraordinary talent.
His sense of direction was catastrophically terrible.
After sleeping through half the trip, taking the wrong train, asking three equally confused strangers for directions, and confidently following the wrong map...
He ended up in...
North City.
A place everyone avoided.
A city whispered about after dark.
People disappeared here.
Businesses paid protection money.
Even the police hesitated before crossing certain streets.
Nani knew...
Absolutely none of that.
He yawned.
"Wow... fancy neighborhood."
...
At the edge of the district stood an enormous black estate.
Iron gates.
Luxury cars.
Dozens of armed men in suits.
Nani blinked.
"What a weird hotel."
He dragged his suitcase straight toward the gate.
The guards watched him.
One guard blinked.
Another rubbed his eyes.
A third nearly dropped his rifle.
Because...
Nobody.
Absolutely nobody.
Walked into this place voluntarily.
Nani smiled politely.
"Hi."
No one answered.
"Can I get a room?"
The guards froze.
"..."
"..."
One of them actually choked on his own saliva.
"Cough-!"
Nani frowned.
"What?"
Still silence.
He sighed dramatically.
"What are you all deaf or what?"
The guards looked at each other in complete horror.
Was this...
A suicide mission?
Or was this pretty little stranger simply insane?
From the second floor...
Behind a floor-to-ceiling window...
Someone had already noticed.
A tall figure dressed entirely in black stood without moving.
Broad shoulders.
Expressionless face.
Cold eyes.
The ruler of North City's underworld.
Sky.
The infamous mob boss.
Cruel.
Heartless.
Psychotic.
A man whose own subordinates avoided making eye contact.
He watched the tiny stranger arguing with armed guards...
As if he were checking into a five-star hotel.
"...Interesting."
Not amusing.
Not cute.
Just...
Interesting.
For the first time in months...
Something unexpected had walked through his gates.
And Sky hated unexpected things.
Down below...
Nani crossed his arms impatiently.
"So?"
"Am I getting a room or not?"
Behind him...
The heavy iron gates slowly began to close.
With a loud metallic groan.
Bang.
Too late.
The wrong turn had already been made.
-----------
The courtyard fell into absolute silence.
Every guard stood as straight as statues.
A pair of polished black boots stopped a few steps away from Nani.
Slowly...
Nani looked up.
And up.
...And up.
The man was built like a walking fortress.
Broad shoulders stretched beneath a black dress shirt, sleeves rolled to his forearms. His sharp features held no emotion, and his dark eyes were cold enough to make grown men lower their heads.
He stood there like the Great Wall of China.
Unmovable.
Intimidating.
Nani blinked once.
"Oh."
He tilted his head.
"You're the manager or what?"
Several guards forgot how to breathe.
One silently prayed for the stranger's soul.
Sky didn't answer.
His icy gaze swept over the small runaway standing before him with a pink suitcase and a plush keychain dangling from the handle.
"..."
Nani took his silence as permission to continue.
"Listen."
"I want an AC room."
He held up one finger.
"A soft bed."
Second finger.
"Good-quality blanket."
Third.
"Pure one hundred percent cotton bedsheets."
Fourth.
"Two side pillows."
He nodded seriously.
"I fall off the bed while sleeping."
"And don't give me those scratchy hotel towels. My skin is sensitive."
The guards stared at him in disbelief.
This...
This little menace was giving demands.
To Sky.
The most feared man in North City.
The ruthless mob boss everyone called heartless.
Rumors said he had never dated.
Never flirted.
Never allowed anyone to touch him.
Women who tried to cling to him were thrown out.
Men who mocked him didn't live long enough to laugh twice.
The underground had a nickname for him.
Not because he was shy.
Because nobody survived long enough to get close.
Sky's expression remained unreadable.
His voice was low.
"...Finished?"
Nani nodded.
"For now."
Another pause.
Sky glanced at one of his men.
"Give him a room."
The guard's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"...Boss?"
Sky looked at him once.
The guard instantly lowered his head.
"Y-Yes, Boss."
Nani smiled, completely oblivious to the silent panic around him.
"Finally."
"See? Was that so hard?"
He grabbed his suitcase and started following the guard.
Then suddenly stopped.
He turned back.
"Oh."
"I didn't ask your name."
Sky looked at him.
"...Sky."
"Hm."
"I'm Nani."
No fear.
No respect.
No trembling.
Just a casual introduction.
Then he cheerfully waved.
"Nice meeting you, Manager Sky."
The entire courtyard froze.
Someone quietly whispered-
"...He called Boss a manager."
Another guard covered his face.
"He'll never see tomorrow."
Sky watched the small figure disappear into the mansion.
For a long moment...
No one dared speak.
One of his right-hand men finally broke the silence.
"...Boss."
"Should we get rid of him?"
Sky's eyes remained fixed on the hallway where Nani had vanished.
"...No."
The answer shocked everyone.
"Watch him."
"Don't let him wander."
"And don't let him touch anything."
The men exchanged uneasy glances.
It wasn't mercy.
Their boss wasn't capable of mercy.
It was curiosity.
And everyone in North City knew one terrifying truth-
Whenever Sky became curious about something...
It never ended well.
-----------
The guest room was...
Ridiculously luxurious.
Cream-colored walls.
A king-sized bed.
A soft cotton blanket.
Fluffy pillows.
One...
Two...
Three...
Nani's eyes sparkled.
"They actually listened."
He happily threw himself onto the mattress.
Boing.
"...Soft."
Another bounce.
"...Very soft."
Satisfied, he stretched like a sleepy cat.
Just then-
Buzz... Buzz...
His phone lit up.
Dad Calling...
Nani stared at the screen.
"...Nope."
Block.
A second later...
Another unknown number.
"...Also nope."
Block.
He tossed the phone onto the bed and dramatically pointed at the empty room as if someone were standing there.
"Brooo!"
"My dad is insane or what?!"
He began pacing around the room, arguing with an imaginary audience.
"I'm twenty-two years old!"
He stopped.
"...Completely innocent."
A thoughtful pause.
"...Probably not."
He looked at his own reflection in the mirror.
"At least I have an innocent face."
He nodded proudly.
"That counts."
He continued his dramatic rant.
"And that thirty-eight-year-old handsome brat-"
"He thought I'd become a babysitter!"
"Huh?!"
He crossed his arms.
"Am I a daycare center?"
"Or his toy?"
"What is wrong with rich people?"
He sighed so dramatically it deserved an award.
"Bro..."
"The bar is open."
"Go enjoy your life."
"If you need someone to watch your kids, there are babysitting centers!"
"So why..."
He flopped backward onto the bed.
"...Why make my life sooo haaaard?"
His voice echoed through the quiet room.
Outside the half-open door...
A guard awkwardly stood frozen.
He had come to ask whether the guest needed dinner.
Instead...
He had accidentally listened to the entire speech.
The guard slowly turned toward the hallway.
"...Boss should hear this."
Not because it was important.
Because it was...
Unbelievably ridiculous.
...
A few minutes later.
Sky stood in the security room.
One of the monitors displayed Nani's room.
The cameras had no audio.
Only video.
Sky watched the young man flop across the bed, wave his hands around, point at invisible people, then bury his face in a pillow in exaggerated despair.
"..."
His right-hand man hesitated.
"Boss..."
"I think he's talking to himself."
Sky's expression didn't change.
"Or arguing with imaginary people."
Another pause.
"...Should we call a doctor?"
Sky looked at the screen again.
Nani suddenly sat up, hugged one of the side pillows, and seemed to continue complaining to it as if it were a person.
"...No."
Sky replied flatly.
"He's just strange."
For someone who ruled North City's underworld without hesitation...
The runaway in the guest room was, somehow...
The most confusing thing he'd encountered all year.