Close Enough to Burn
Seoul's skyline shimmered, but Lee's thoughts were far from beautiful. The silver necklace, Leejoon's tracker, his "tether," lay heavy in his palm, a cool, constant weight. It was the only thing connecting him to the killer who had inexplicably become his protector.
He stood in front of the mirror, hair undone, no wig, no makeup. Just Lee. Not Lia. He traced the line of his jaw. Lia is the profitable one. Lee is the tired one.
His eyes, bare and searching, stared back with one all-consuming question: How long until someone finds out, and what will they destroy when they do?
The Collapsing Facades
The next morning at Golden Media Group, the air was toxic. The hallways hummed with the knowledge of Lee's "favor" from the CEO, the promotion that had cemented him as Han Doyun's property.
He hadn't even reached his desk when Jisoo cornered him, her forced smile tighter than piano wire.
"You didn't answer my texts, Lee," she said, her eyes flashing with hurt pride and cold suspicion.
"I've been buried under the new 'Apex' briefs, Miss Jisoo," Lee answered, injecting a heavy dose of professional exhaustion into his tone. "The hours have been impossible."
"Impossible hours, or convenient excuses?" Her voice dropped to a dangerous silk. "You were at that underground art show last night. Don't bother to lie; I saw the photos. That was Lia, wasn't it? The model I told you looks eerily like you."
Lee's chest seized. He masked it quickly with a polite, vacant look. "Lia is a model I style often. She happens to have a very common facial structure, Miss Jisoo. My talent agency manages her bookings."
Jisoo leaned in, her eyes hard. "You know, Lee, I don't tolerate secrets. My father doesn't either. He prizes honesty, or at least, predictable manipulation."
Lee stood his ground. "I assure you, I am only focused on being the best Creative Consultant for this company."
"Be careful," she hissed, her face close enough that Lee could smell her expensive perfume. "You are playing a double game with two of the most powerful people in this country, my father, who wants to own your loyalty, and me, who wants to own your heart. In a place like this, pretty boys with too many conflicting eyes on them tend to get swallowed whole." She walked away, her heels clicking a rhythmic warning.
The CEO's Verdict
Minutes later, the CEO himself summoned Lee to his office. The blinds were drawn, muting the vibrant city into a sterile backdrop. The storm was no longer pressing in through the windows; it was contained entirely within the room.
Han Doyun was seated at his desk, his hand methodically turning over a gold fountain pen while the other tapped a manila folder. The quiet aggression of the gesture was terrifying.
Lee bowed. "Sir."
"Close the door. Sit," the CEO ordered.
Lee obeyed, heart pounding a dull, frantic rhythm.
Han Doyun didn't speak for a long moment, allowing the silence to stretch and threaten Lee's composure. Then, he slid the folder forward. "Photos."
Lee's hands remained at his sides, refusing to touch the evidence.
"Of her," Han Doyun continued, his voice dangerously even. "Lia, the model who has no paper trail, no tax history, no agency beyond a shell corporation registered in Busan. But her face…" He leaned back. "Her face reminds me precisely of you."
"I needed extra work," Lee said, his voice instantly steadying. The explanation he had rehearsed a thousand times for this exact moment. "Styling didn't pay enough. I modeled, but I couldn't do it as myself. I was considered too ambiguous, too quiet. No one would hire me as Lee."
Han Doyun gave a short, cold laugh. "So you dressed as a woman and successfully conned the entire fashion scene. You made the city fall in love with an illusion. Is that the summation?"
"I was surviving," Lee corrected, meeting the CEO's gaze with defiance. "I took a talent I had, the ability to transform, and I monetized it. No one got hurt."
"You think I care about them?" The CEO stood slowly, walking to the window. "You lied to me. You walk my halls, earn my trust, and sleep in the shadow of my name while conducting a secret life that could be used against me."
Lee could not answer the accusation.
"I should fire you," Han Doyun said, turning back, his voice resonating with cold finality. "But I won't. I have already told you why: Men like you are useful. You know how to maintain a beautiful, complicated mask. You know how to play the game of duality. That makes you dangerous. And I prefer dangerous assets I control."
He walked closer and placed a hand heavily on Lee's shoulder, his grip tightening until it was painful. "Your survival instinct is remarkable, Lee. But now, it belongs to me. You will terminate all Lia contracts that might risk this company's reputation. You belong to the 'Apex' campaign now. You belong to Golden Media."
Lee stood frozen, the possessive touch making his skin crawl, but he felt a cold, calculated relief. He was claimed, yes, but he was safe from immediate public exposure.
"Run again, and I won't fire you," Han Doyun warned quietly. "I will expose you, and then I will watch your beautiful assassin tear himself apart trying to pick up the pieces of your life."
The Revelation
That night, Lee stumbled into his apartment, ripping off his clothes, the CEO's possessive touch lingering like a physical stain. He splashed water on his face again and again, trying to wash away the guilt and the fear. The walls were closing in. He had to end the war, or at least, make Leejoon understand the impossibility of their entanglement.
As if summoned by the thought, his phone chimed.
J:Come outside. Now. The usual spot.
Lee hesitated only a moment. Obedience felt like the only path left.
A black sedan was parked beneath the streetlight at the end of his block. The window rolled down. Lee got in without a word.
They drove to the quiet overlook at the city's edge, the same place where Leejoon had left him trembling with desire and fear after the rooftop confrontation.
Leejoon stepped out first, leaning against the cold stone barrier. Lee followed, letting the cool wind clean the sweat of the day from his skin.
"He knows," Lee said immediately, skipping all preamble. "The CEO. He knows about Lia. He knows I lied."
Leejoon's face remained a mask of stone. "I suspected he would. He's an animal who defends his territory. That doesn't change anything."
"It changes everything! He threatened me. He threatened you," Lee insisted, walking closer. "He said if you touch his business again, he will expose me. The papers will run the photos, the truth, everything. Lia will cease to exist, and so will my only means of survival. You have to back off, Leejoon."
"No," Leejoon stated, his voice flat, absolute. "I won't. I've spent my life surrounded by people who hide and people who run. You are the only person who faced me, a killer, and refused to break eye contact. I won't let a corporate tyrant erase you."
"But you don't even know the full truth!" Lee cried out, his voice cracking with the desperate need to make Leejoon understand the depth of the deception. "You call Lia a lie. But you don't know why she's a lie."
Leejoon stepped forward, closing the distance. "Then tell me, before I decide I'm tired of the game. What is the truth you protect so fiercely?"
Lee took a shaky breath, feeling the moment, the final, irreversible point of no return. He didn't want the secret exposed by an enemy; he wanted it given in trust to the only person who had earned it.
He reached up, his fingers fumbling with the pins hidden beneath his collar and along his hairline. He grabbed the thick, black curls of the expensive wig and, with a single, sudden motion, he pulled it off.
The wig fell to the ground, scattering in the wind. His short, dark, male hair was instantly exposed, wind-tossed, and messy.
Lee stood exposed, no lashes, no contouring, no dress, revealing the male body beneath the thin clothing. Lia faded. Lee stood alone.
Leejoon's face didn't change. Not immediately. He stared at the face he knew, the eyes he had seen, recognizing the essential soul, but grappling with the sudden, shocking alteration of the frame.
The silence this time was heavier than any words, filled with the vastness of the revealed deception.
"How long?" Leejoon asked, his voice barely a ragged whisper.
"All my life," Lee admitted, tears stinging his eyes as the cool air hit his exposed skin.
Leejoon took a slow, deliberate step forward, his eyes traveling over Lee's bare face, his shoulders, his stance. "You're... both. You are the man I saw at the fashion company, and the woman who captured my attention."
Lee nodded, unable to speak.
Leejoon took another step, closing the distance. "You lied."
"I didn't know how to tell you," Lee whispered, his chin trembling. "I was surviving. I was doing what I had to do to pay my way. To exist in a world that only accepts the beautiful, packaged lies."
Leejoon reached out, his hand raising slowly, and Lee flinched instinctively, bracing for a blow, a rejection, a look of disgust.
But Leejoon didn't strike. His calloused, strong fingers gently touched Lee's chin, tilting his face up.
"You're the most honest person I've ever met," Leejoon said, his voice husky with unexpected emotion.
Lee blinked, shock overriding the fear. "What?"
"Everyone lies," Leejoon repeated, his thumb moving slowly over Lee's cheekbone, where the makeup used to sit. "But they lie to be safe. You lied to be seen. You risked everything to simply survive a life that never gave you a chance. That is not a lie. That is a declaration of war against the world. That is brave."
Lee's heart cracked open, the relief a physical, sudden flood.
Leejoon leaned in, his gaze intense, unwavering. "I don't care what you wear. I care who you are when no one's watching. I care about the boy who is trying to pay his rent and the woman who brings the world to its knees. I accept both."
Lee swallowed hard, his voice thick with emotion. "Then stay."
"I will," Leejoon promised, his acceptance complete and final. "But you will tell me everything. Every fear, every debt, every move you make. You are mine to protect now. Don't ever keep secrets from me again."
Lee nodded, tears finally falling, staining his bare cheeks. For the first time in his life, someone saw all of him, the vulnerability, the lie, the truth, and did not walk away.
The feeling was terrifying. It was absolute. It was the moment Lee fell completely into the chaotic orbit of the killer who loved his soul.