Chapter 26 – The Dare Beneath the Silence
"Behind the Gold: AUREUS Unfiltered" – Episode 2 (Ongoing)
Dare 6 of 13 – "Hand over your unlocked phone. No deletions. No edits."
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[STUDIO – THE DARE WHEEL STOPS]
Jeon Mira (reading aloud):
"DARE 6: Hand over your unlocked phone. No deletions. No edits. The host may browse freely."
She glances up—mischievous.
Jeon Mira:
"I want twenty minutes."
Minjae:
"TWENTY?! You're a monster."
Hyunjae (deadpan):
"There goes his career. And our sanity."
Jeon Mira:
"I want the truth. And twenty minutes is barely enough to glimpse it."
Jaeheon (calmly, without pause):
"Okay."
[THE WORLD FREEZES]
The air sharpens.
He unlocks his phone and hands it over like it's nothing.
Like he hasn't handed over a weapon cloaked in glass.
[STUDIO SCREEN FLASHES – LOCKSCREEN APPEARS]
Gasps. Instant silence. Everywhere.
A photo.
A woman.
Her back turned to the camera, golden hair glowing under cathedral lights.
She is standing at the edge of something vast—a ballroom of glass and shadows.
Behind her, stars drip like chandeliers across the horizon.
The way she stands—motionless, commanding—
isn't human.
It isn't soft.
It isn't safe.
It is something like judgment.
Something like a god.
Eunjae (barely whispering):
"...She feels like justice."
Yeonwoo:
"She feels like punishment."
Minjae:
"I feel like kneeling. I don't even know why."
@goddessinlight: WHO IS SHE. WHY DO I FEEL AFRAID.
@divineandcruel: she's not a person. she's an empire.
@throneandblade: she looks like she decides who lives.
But Jaeheon says nothing.
No explanation.
No softening.
No awe.
He only stares.
Like he's looking at a memory—not a myth.
A person—not a god.
Rin (carefully):
"What… what does she mean to you?"
Jaeheon (softly):
"She's not a queen to me. Not a goddess. Not an empire."
Pause.
"She's just… her."
[HOST OPENS GALLERY – IMAGES FLASH BY]
Every photo—her. From behind. In profile. In motion. Stillness.
She's always just out of reach.
Never facing the camera.
And still—impossibly—every image feels like a commandment.
Jeon Mira mutters:
"She doesn't have to look at us. We already obey."
[HOST FINGERS SLIPS – A VIDEO STARTS PLAYING BY ACCIDENT]
The screen flashes black.
Then—
A room. Dim. Gold curtains. Velvet carpet.
Jaeheon—barefoot, dressed in formal black, breathing heavily.
He's bleeding.
There's blood on his collarbone, down his white shirt, soaking into the floor.
The camera shakes slightly—real. Not acted.
And then she appears.
From behind.
Golden hair.
White gloves.
A gun in one hand.
A blade in the other.
She steps behind him like she's known him for centuries.
Without a word, she lifts the blade to his neck.
And draws it.
Blood rushes down his throat.
But he smiles.
Real. Honest. Quiet.
He bleeds, and he smiles.
The studio erupts.
Jeon Mira (shouting):
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"
Yeonwoo (panicked):
"Turn it off. Turn it OFF."
Minjae:
"Are you INSANE?! That's real—THAT WAS REAL."
Hyunjae (staring):
"You were bleeding like someone opened your veins—Jaeheon—what—how are you even here—?!"
@realbloodrealblade: THAT WASN'T A MOVIE. THAT WASN'T ACTING.
@smilingwithblood: WHY WAS HE SMILING. WHY DID SHE HURT HIM. WHY DID HE LET HER?
@hecalleditlove: this isn't romance. this is something else.
Jeon Mira (breathless):
"Was that her?"
Jaeheon (quietly):
"Yes."
Jeon Mira (shaking):
"Who is she? Why would she—why would you—how—?"
Jaeheon:
"I met her years ago."
Silence.
Jaeheon (slowly):
"At a ball. One of those ridiculous things where the richest families gather. I was fifteen. She was standing alone, across the room."
Pause.
"From afar, I fell in love."
"And since that day... I've never stopped."
"We met again at another ball."
"And that's when it happened."
[STUDIO – UNBREATHING STILLNESS]
No one speaks.
The host can't move.
The members are silent.
Not because they're stunned.
But because they understand now that Jaeheon Kang is not just talented.
He is haunted.
He is in love with something the world can't name.
Something divine.
Something cruel.
Something holy.
Something that bleeds him, and makes him smile.
@gildedobsession: this is no longer about fame. it's about devotion.
@hebleedsforher: he said "yes" like it meant "everything."
@facelessqueen: she is death, love, divinity, destruction—and to him, she is just her.