Korean Elevator Game

The champagne was flat, much like the expression on Julian’s face. "It’s not that I don’t love you, Elara," he said, adjusting his $5,000 suit jacket. "It’s just that you’ve become... predictable. I need a woman who challenges the world, not someone who waits for me to come home and tell her what color the sky is." Elara felt the sting of the words more than the cold wind on the balcony. For six years, she had been Julian’s shadow. She had curated his life, managed his moods, and dimmed her own light so he could shine brighter. And now, on the night of his company’s gala, he was discarding her like an outdated software update. "Predictable?" she whispered, her voice cracking. "Go home, Elara. I’ve already had your things moved to the guest house. We can talk about a settlement in the morning." She didn't wait for the morning. She didn't wait for the "settlement." She walked out into the rain, her silk dress clinging to her skin like a second, cold layer of grief. It wasn't until three days later, sitting in a dingy motel with nothing but a suitcase and a bruised soul, that the notification popped up on her phone. ARE YOU READY TO LIVE FOR YOURSELF? ENTER THE SURVIVAL GAME. WIN YOUR FREEDOM. Elara stared at the golden icon on the screen. It felt like a trap. Or maybe, it was the only way out.

Namih Chan is a detective. She does not believe in the ghost that will return to earth to demand justice. But since Namih Chan lived in her rented house, her perspective changed. Almost every night, she dreams of a bloody woman. She was begging for justice. It doesn't hold her back anymore. Until she decided to reopen the woman's case when she found out that someone had died in the house she was renting, few years ago. She struggled to trace the woman's origin until she met the family. She was asking for cooperation from the family, but they refused. Until she meets the eldest brother who is also a detective. Joojen Lee, a half blooded korean who used to live in the country. She worked with him. Along with her search for justice is the monthly case of murder of a half filipino women in their city. The woman died the same way as Joana was killed. She concluded that the killer of the woman in their city and Joana's killer had something to do with it. Will they succeed in achieving the justice that Joana demands, in exchange for her silence? Are they ready to find out who is the person behind the murders?

Natalie Yoon, an eccentric doctor who specializes in infectious diseases has made remarkable triumphs in the development of novel vaccines, including the renowned vaccine for the human coronavirus that has stricken the world in 2020. She has married an attractive yet mysterious man and heir to Nova Pharmaceuticals which reproduced the vaccine that made it regain its fame. Five years later, on the day of an auction event, Natalie met a North Korean defector who has been in constant search of someone who could help save his family and his once-beloved country because of a secret not even revealed to the world yet can cause mass destruction if too late. The secrets revolving around Nova Pharmaceuticals and Dr. Yoon's marriage to its heir are soon to resurface until an unexpected day happened that led to Natalie getting kidnapped. Events spiraled until she learned the long-concealed secret of her husband. This made Natalie choose between humanity and her husband; it's only a matter of time before the only thing left to choose, is the last vestige of hope.

Sera Blackwood never thought her fated mate would reject her in front of the entire pack. But Alpha Thorne Ashford did exactly that, throwing her away for a political marriage like she meant nothing. Broken and humiliated, she runs into the one place no pack wolf should ever go. The Rogue territory. That's where the Rogue King finds her. Kade is dangerous, deadly, and everything she should fear. But instead of killing her, he sees what she didn't even know she was. A Silver Blood. The rarest, most powerful wolf alive. The kind the Council has been hunting down and killing for centuries. Now Thorne wants her back. His wolf is going crazy without her, and he'll destroy everything to get her. But Sera isn't that weak Omega anymore. Under Kade's training, she's becoming something terrifying. Something that could change the werewolf world forever. Something they'll kill to keep buried. Caught between the Alpha who broke her heart and the Rogue King teaching her to fight back, Sera has to choose to either forgive the mate who broke her, or stand with the dangerous man showing her just how powerful she really is. Because the Council is coming, War is building and her choice will decide everything that'll happen. They'll all learn what happens when you awaken a Silver Blood.

Seventeen-year-old Elara Ward has spent her life being forgotten and shuffled between foster homes and small towns that never remembered her once she’s gone. But the dying town of Willowmere is different. The air hums with whispers, the lake no longer reflects the moon, and something ancient is stirring beneath the willows. When Elara follows a strange light into the woods one blood-red night, she crosses the veil and a boundary between the human world and the Lumenwild, a realm of living moonlight and haunted shadows. There, she’s marked by an ancient power known as Moonfire, a symbol burned into her skin that pulses with the rhythm of the twin moons above. Saved by four mysterious men who are named Cael, their golden-eyed Alpha; Kian, the lightning-tongued rogue; Auren, the silent watcher; and Nyx, the shadow who walks between worlds and Elara learns that her arrival has reignited a prophecy buried in legend. The Riftborn, creatures of bone and smoke, are returning, and the mark she bears is both a weapon and a curse. In the heart of the Lumenwild’s glowing forest lies the Sanctum, a stronghold where wolves walk in light and the Moon’s will is law. There, Elara begins to uncover the truth, her crossing was no accident. The veil didn’t just let her in but it had called her home. As the moons draw closer and the bond between Elara and the wolves deepens, she must choose whether to embrace the power that could heal a broken world… or unleash the one that could end it. Because the Moon is awake again and she remembers her chosen.

“Don’t worry, Kacie... he’s coming for you. We’ll make sure you’re safe. And when he does… every soul that ever hurt you will pay. They will tremble at the sound of your voice and kneel at your feet." My lips trembled as I forced the words out, barely more than a whisper. “Who is he? Will I… will I truly be safe with him?” Kacie Brooks has spent years in captivity, enduring torturous experiments by human scientists who are desperate to unlock the secrets of her kind–werewolves. When she's finally rescued by Alpha Theonardo, a possessive and fiercely protective Alpha who turns out to be her fated mate, freedom now feels almost as terrifying as the cage she left behind. Kacie learned how to live again–to trust, to heal, and to find her place in a new pack filled with strangers. But danger isn’t far from her. The scientists are far from finished, this time, they’ve formed a deadly alliance with a powerful witch who’s out for revenge against the werewolves.

They say a wedding dress is a promise of forever. Mine was a shroud for the girl I used to be. I was sold to a monster to pay for my father’s sins. I expected to spend my wedding night praying for a quick death at the hands of Don Moretti. Instead, I got a bloodbath. Before the first glass of champagne could shatter, the doors were kicked open by the city’s most terrifying nightmare: Dante "The Butcher" Vane. He didn't come to save me. He came to collect. By the time the sun rose, my husband was a corpse, my family home was in ashes, and I was draped across the lap of the man who had been stalking me from the shadows for years. "Your father didn't just owe the Don, Bianca," he whispered, his thumb tracing the line of my throat with lethal tenderness. "He owed me. And I’ve decided you’re the only currency I’ll accept." Now, I am a prisoner in his fortress—a gilded cage where the line between fear and desire is blurred by every dark touch. Dante is a tyrant, a red flag wrapped in Italian silk, and a man who claims to be my protector while keeping me in chains. But as the secrets of our shared past begin to bleed out, I realize the "Butcher" has a weakness. He doesn't just want my body; he wants my soul. He thinks he’s breaking me. He doesn't realize that in the silence of my mourning, I’ve stopped being the victim. I’m learning his triggers. I’m studying his scars. And once I make the King of the Underworld fall for the widow he created... I won't just take my freedom. I’ll take his empire.

Blurb: Tiara, an omega who tragically lost her parents to unknown and strange circumstances, lived on the outskirts of town in the remains of her parent's home as it was the one of the few things she had to remember them in her course to find out the cause of their untimely and forgotten death. She lives all alone after serving as a maid in her uncle's house literally all day, enduring hardships and isolation, leaving her with little or no time to make ends meet. To survive, she gathered herbs from the woods a few miles away from her house and sold them at the market to make a living. The woods that laid behind her house also served as the hunting ground for the alpha who is always accompanied by his most trusted aides and subordinates. Fate finally intervened when Tiara and Edwin met on one of their numerous visits to the woods. Edwin discovered that they were fated to each other the moment her set his eyes on her but Tiara could not because she was an omega, very weak at heart, unable to feel the bond immediately. Despite the fact that they clicked almost immediately, their bond and choices faced so many challenges that threatened to tear them apart. Will they overcome their challenges? What will be Tiara's fate? Will she be right by Edwin's side, taking her rightful position as the Luna to the Darkmoon pack? Will she find out the cause of her parents death?

"Just help me out this once, man. I just made it to the final round, and I can't leave the game. Help your little brother out for a change? You're the best, J." It was 2:00 a.m. Chad asked me to go downstairs and pick up his takeout. I wanted to refuse because I was still recovering from a broken foot, but he did not look capable of tearing his eyes from the screen for even a second. Thus, I agreed and stepped outside. Without warning, something like a stream of comments flashed across my mind. [No! Somebody stop him!] [That delivery guy is your brother's roommate! He's got a knife!!!] [Lil' Bro knows that already, J! He's using you as a human shield to buy himself time!] I froze. I turned to go back inside. The door would not budge. Chad had already locked it. The elevator chimed down the hall. The comments in my head spiraled into chaos. [The killer is here! Get out of there, Big Bro!]

In a brutal all-male cadet academy where discipline is law and weakness is quietly erased, obedience is not requested—it is engineered. Elias enters the institution for survival. Debt, obligation, and limited options leave him with one rule: endure. He believes discipline is a tool, something external he can master and leave behind once his training is complete. He is wrong. The academy does not simply train bodies—it reshapes awareness. Silence becomes instruction. Proximity becomes pressure. Choice erodes long before it is ever questioned. Elias draws the attention of Instructor Vale, a senior authority figure whose control relies not on punishment, but on restraint. Vale does not command often. He observes. He waits. He allows Elias to adjust himself—until obedience feels voluntary and resistance feels unnatural. As training intensifies, Elias finds himself isolated, refined, and increasingly dependent on the presence that once unsettled him. The line between discipline and desire begins to blur, forcing him to confront a dangerous question: is he being controlled, or is he choosing alignment? In a system designed to strip autonomy while calling it order, Elias must decide whether obedience is something done to him—or something he is willing to claim. Under Orders is a slow-burn psychological MM novel exploring power, conditioning, and the unsettling intimacy of control—where submission is not demanded, but learned.