Chapter 32 – The Devil's Mirror
📺 "Behind the Gold: AUREUS Unfiltered" – Episode 2 Continues
🎯 Dare 9 of 13 – "Show your most recent selfie. No edits."
🔴 Live Viewership: 873.4 million – #1 in 167 countries
[STUDIO – 6:43 PM KST]
It was supposed to be simple.
Just a selfie.
No edits. No filters.
Nothing controversial.
Except this was Jaeheon Kang.
And nothing about him was ever simple.
When the host asked for the photo, he hesitated.
Not coldly. Not with disdain.
But with that rare flicker of discomfort he only ever showed when it involved her.
Jeon Mira (watching him carefully):
"Why the pause? Is it… revealing?"
Jaeheon (flat):
"It's just a photo."
Jeon Mira (raising a brow):
"Show us, then. Or I'll add ten more dares."
A pause.
A heartbeat.
And then he handed the phone over.
[THE SELFIE – DEVIL IN THE MIRROR]
It took one second to load.
And the world stopped breathing.
He was standing in front of a mirror.
His phone angled low, capturing his bare upper body, collarbones gleaming under faint golden light.
His black hair was wet, still dripping from a recent shower, strands clinging to his pale skin.
His eyes—silver-brown, sharp as winter glass—were focused on the reflection.
Not on the camera.
He wasn't posing.
He was simply there—and that made it worse. Or better. Or lethal.
His expression was unreadable.
Serious. Slightly distant. Not seductive, not rehearsed.
But the wet strands trailing down his neck, the faint water beads across his skin, and the perfectly carved lines of his abs told a different story.
This wasn't a picture.
This was a weapon.
He looked like a devil in human form—so perfect he didn't feel real.
The kind of man legends are made of.
The kind of devil women dream of giving their souls to.
Rin:
"...Are we allowed to show this on television?"
Minjae:
"Dude, are you human?"
Yeonwoo:
"I just texted my therapist."
Jeon Mira (after a beat):
"Why did you take it?"
Jaeheon:
"I was looking in the mirror."
Jeon Mira (softly):
"And?"
Jaeheon (quietly, as if it's just fact):
"I was thinking about her."
And the studio went quiet again.
[THE WORLD REACTS – 6:45 PM KST]
The image was shared globally in seconds.
Not just because of his body—though that alone would have been enough.
No.
It was the expression.
The weight in his eyes.
The line—"I was thinking about her."
[LIVE CHAT – MELTDOWN]
@deviljaeheon: HE WAS THINKING ABOUT HER WHILE LOOKING LIKE THIS???
@bornqueenshadow: I just realized. This wasn't about thirst. This was about devotion.
@fearherlove: He took that photo not to seduce. He took it to suffer.
@whoisshe: We know nothing about her. But every woman in the world is now terrified.
[GLOBAL TRENDING – WITHIN 3 MINUTES]
#DevilInTheMirror
#JaeheonUnfiltered
#HerAgain
#TheQueenHeLoves
#WetJaeheon
#AUREUSUnfilteredEp2
#JaeheonKang
"Is she even real?"
"He's not even trying"
"Grandson of the 4th richest man"
[THE GLOBAL LEGEND OF "HER" GROWS]
By now, everyone knew.
Jaeheon was in love.
Not just in love—obsessed.
Not just obsessed—haunted.
And the world, having seen him at his most human and most divine, believed that she—the woman who never appeared—must be something unimaginable.
They didn't know her name.
Not her face.
Not her voice.
But they believed.
Because if a man like him could love her, then she was already crowned.
A Queen.
A shadow in gold.
A silent sovereign in his heart.
And now the world feared her power—because she didn't even have to exist to be worshipped.
[KOREAN ENTERTAINMENT HEADLINES – 7:00 PM KST]
Dispatch:
🗞 "Devil in the Mirror: Jaeheon's Selfie Shakes 160 Nations"
Seoul Daily:
🗞 "The Queen He Loves: A Nation's Obsession with a Woman No One Knows"
Forbes Korea:
🗞 "Jaeheon Kang, Grandson of the World's 4th Richest Man, Drives Market Spike After Selfie Reveal"
[FAN POV – @silverlinedshadows]
It's funny how the photo had nothing but him.
No background. No fancy setting. Just a boy—no, a king—looking at himself and thinking of her.
Not smiling. Not performing. Just remembering.
It wasn't hot. It wasn't sexy.
It was dangerous.
Because love that deep doesn't ask for permission.
It burns. And he's been burning alone for years.
[NEXT DARE – Dare 10 of 13]
Write "I love you" in every language you know.
And there was no time limit.
The studio prepared pens. Notebooks. A camera to track his hand.
Everyone else sat back.