Ha Ri's POV
I used to think idols were predictable.
Perfect smiles.
Perfect scandals.
Perfect lies wrapped in glitter and PR rehearsals.
But nothing about Jin , no, Seo Yul , fit into anything I understood.
I didn't sleep after that night. I replayed the scene over and over:
The alley.
The men in black.
The way he fought them off like someone who'd been trained, not born.
The look in his eyes when he realized I'd seen everything.
Fear.
Recognition.
And a strange, breaking relief , as if being caught was easier than pretending anymore.
I arrived at the newsroom the next morning looking like I'd been hit by a small emotional truck. Nobody cared. Chunghee tossed a stack of useless assignments onto my desk.
"Cover the new idol diet trend," she said. "And stop chasing fantasies. No one cares about disappearances."
If only she knew.
But I wasn't thinking about assignments. I was thinking about him , the masked boy who sang like the sky but fought like the underworld raised him.
Why me?
Why did he let me see?
And why… Why did I feel like I had stepped into something I couldn't step out of?
I didn't have answers, only the weight of responsibility crushing my ribs.
Because now that I knew the truth, someone else would notice I knew.
And that someone would not be gentle.
I checked my phone every few minutes that day. No messages. No posts. No updates. The internet was exploding with drama, "Where Did Jin Go Last Night?" trending everywhere.
I knew the real answer.
So did he.
I wasn't just a journalist anymore.
I was his witness.
His liability.
And somehow… the only person who had seen him unmasked.
At 11:47pm, a message finally came.
Unknown Number:
Don't follow me again.
My heart slammed.
I typed back before I could breathe.
Me:
Meet me. You owe me that much.
No response.
Then,
One hour. Same alley. Come alone.
I didn't even grab my coat.
I ran.
Because I wasn't sure which scared me more , the mafia prince or the fact that I wanted to see him again.
Seo Yul's POV
I should have ignored her.
I should have let the warning be enough , cut ties, erase traces, pretend she'd seen nothing.
But Ha Ri wasn't someone who forgot. I saw it in her eyes that night: the kind of truth-hunger that ruins people.
I didn't want her ruined.
I didn't want her involved.
But when she texted, Meet me, something inside me… cracked.
She wasn't afraid.
Or maybe she was.
But she still came back.
Nobody comes back for me.
When I reached the alley, she was already there , small, determined, shivering under the neon lights. She looked at me like she'd been waiting her whole life to ask the question sitting between us.
I kept my mask on.
Not the stage one , the street one. Black. Plain. Forgettable.
"Why did you come?" I asked.
"You told me to," she shot back.
A lie.
She would've come even if I didn't.
"What you saw," I said slowly, "you need to forget."
"No."
My jaw tightened. "Ha Ri,"
"You think I can just walk away from this?" She stepped closer. "You were attacked. They knew you. You knew them. This isn't some idol scandal , this is life or death."
Exactly why she should stay away.
I looked at her properly then , really looked.
Not at the girl who followed me.
At the woman who stood her ground despite seeing me bleed.
"Are you afraid of me?" I asked.
She swallowed. "No."
Another lie.
But for some reason… I believed her anyway.
"Who were those men?" she whispered.
"Hunters," I said. "People who don't stop once they start."
"And you?" Her eyes softened. "Who are you really?"
I could have lied.
I could have spun a story.
But something in me , something quiet and exhausted , wanted someone to know.
"Seo Yul," I said. "My real name."
And watching her reaction felt like stepping off a cliff.
No disgust.
No shock.
Just… acceptance. Heavy and gentle.
"And your father?" she asked.
My fists clenched. "A man you don't want to meet."
Silence stretched.
She didn't run.
She didn't break.
She just breathed.
"Then let me help you," she said.
I froze.
Nobody has ever said that to me.
Ever.
Ha Ri's POV
He laughed , quietly, bitterly , as if the idea of help was a joke he'd already lost the punchline to.
"You can't help me," he said. "You don't know what my life costs."
"Then tell me."
"You shouldn't want to know."
"But I do."
His gaze sharpened. The cold idol I'd seen on posters was gone. The boy standing in front of me was raw and cornered.
"You're risking your life," he warned.
"So are you."
That hit him harder than any enemy.
Something flickered in his eyes , conflict, fear, longing, something he'd buried so deeply it almost looked foreign on his face.
"You're trouble," he murmured.
"You followed me first," I shot back.
His breath hitched , just slightly , like he wasn't used to someone talking back.
He stepped closer.
The alley felt smaller.
His presence felt dangerous in a way that had nothing to do with crime.
"Ha Ri…"
It was the first time he said my name like it mattered.
Like I mattered.
"I can't drag you into this world."
"You didn't drag me."
I lifted my chin.
"I walked."
For a moment, the air stilled between us.
Then
A shadow moved on the rooftop.
He heard it before I did.
His hand shot out, pulling me behind him so fast the wind slapped my hair into my face.
"Get down," he whispered.
I didn't argue.
A bullet hit the wall where my head had been.
Seo Yul's POV
They found me.
Not surprising.
But the timing , the precision , told me something worse:
They knew I wasn't alone.
Ha Ri clutched my jacket, breath shaking. I pressed her behind me, shielding her with my body.
"Don't move," I whispered.
Another bullet.
Then another.
Silent ones , suppressor shots , meant they wanted me dead without witnesses.
Too late.
They already had one.
I grabbed her hand. "Run."
We sprinted through the narrow alleyways, past dumpsters and broken neon signs. She wasn't fast, but she didn't stop. She didn't scream. She just held onto me like she trusted me.
Mistake.
But the kind that carved itself into my chest.
When we reached the back entrance of an abandoned karaoke bar, I shoved the rusted door open and pulled her inside.
Only then did she speak.
Only then did she break.
"What is happening?! Who are they?!"
"My father's people," I said. "Or his enemies. With him, it's the same thing."
Her eyes widened with a horror she couldn't hide.
"You said you wanted to know," I said quietly. "This is the truth. This is my world. And now you've stepped into it."
She shook her head. "I didn't think,"
"That it would kill you?" I finished. "You should have."
Her voice trembled. "Do you regret that I followed you?"
I looked at her , really looked at the girl who risked everything just by standing beside me.
"No," I whispered.
And it terrified me.
Because attachments get people killed.
And she was becoming mine.