Chapter 34 – The Reason Behind Every Word
Behind the Gold: AUREUS Unfiltered – Episode 2
Post Dare 11 Reaction – After "I love you" in 138 Languages
Live Global Viewership: 944,982,344
Studio Status: Breathless
There was nothing left to say.
After Jaeheon Kang wrote "I love you" in 138 languages, with hands that never trembled and eyes that never wavered, the world sat in collective silence.
No fan screams. No host commentary.
Just the sound of a pen setting down ink for the last time.
He had stopped not because he ran out of languages—
But because the paper had run out.
And now he sat still, back straight, hands calm in his lap.
Not proud.
Not tired.
Just… quiet.
Jeon Mira (host, softly):
"…I think everyone's wondering the same thing."
She doesn't reach for the next card yet.
She looks at him directly, gently—like approaching a sleeping lion.
"Why did you… learn all those languages? That many?"
There's a pause.
It hangs heavy in the air—like a storm waiting to fall.
Jaeheon doesn't blink.
Then, quietly—
Jaeheon (calmly, eyes forward):
"Because she knows them."
The world shatters again.
Not loudly this time. Not with chaos.
This is the sound of a million people exhaling at once.
As if something obvious—something inevitable—has finally been spoken aloud.
Minjae (breath caught):
"…That's the only reason?"
Jaeheon:
"There is no other reason."
[STUDIO REACTIONS]
Hyunjae stares at him like he's never seen him before.
Yeonwoo slowly lowers his mic.
Rin's expression turns unreadable—like he's trying to understand why someone would ever do that.
Eunjae, who usually jokes first, says nothing.
Even the cameras feel like they're holding their breath.
Jeon Mira (barely audible):
"You learned… 138 languages. Because she knows them."
Jaeheon:
"…Yes."
And that was it.
No dramatics. No fanfare.
Just the most terrifying form of devotion the world had ever seen—
delivered in the most casual tone imaginable.
[FLASHBACK – CHAPTER 26]
They've already seen her.
The Queen with the blade to his throat and the gun to his head.
She didn't flinch.
Neither did he.
The world remembers the video: the angle just wide enough to see her cold beauty in silhouette—
and Jaeheon bleeding, smiling like she handed him heaven.
And now… they understand.
Every word he wrote.
Every language he memorized.
He didn't do it to be impressive.
He did it to understand her.
[ONLINE CHAT DETONATION]
@devotiondecoded: HE LEARNED 138 LANGUAGES JUST TO UNDERSTAND HER
@helanguagedhimselfintolove: this is SICK. i'm obsessed
@sheknows138: SHE KNOWS THEM. SHE ACTUALLY KNOWS THEM.
@notforfame: he didn't learn them for fans. he learned them for her
@everytongueisforher: "there is no other reason" AND HE MEANT IT
@paperranoutnothim: the paper ended. he didn't.
[VOGUE International – Live Recap]
"Love, in Jaeheon Kang's world, is not grand gestures or spoken promises.
It's 138 languages memorized without a smile.
It's bleeding from the neck with a smile.
It's worship without altar.
And when asked why he did it, he simply said— 'Because she knows them.'
God help whoever she is."
[STUDIO – FINAL MOMENTS OF DARE 11 FALLOUT]
The silence grows strange now.
Not stunned—but sacred.
A room full of people sitting in front of a man who just declared, with the calm of a scholar, that every language he's ever spoken was only because she could understand.
And the worst part?
Everyone believes him.
Jeon Mira (voice barely returning):
"Dare twelve… coming up."
But it doesn't matter.
Nothing she says can shake what he's just done.
Because now the world understands—
He doesn't just love her.