[Current Time: 9:00 AM]
[Location: My Bedroom (The Sanctuary)]
[Mental State: declining rapidly.]
I wake up. I stare at the ceiling.
For a brief, beautiful second, I forget who I am. I forget that yesterday I was a Vampire Duke. I forget that I have a fan club. I am just Jinsu. I am a particle of dust floating in the cosmos.
Then, my phone vibrates.
It vibrates again.
It vibrates so hard it falls off the nightstand and hits the floor with a thud.
I pick it up. The screen is cracked. Great. That's an omen.
I unlock it.
Notifications (999+)
* Instagram: You have 50k new followers.
* TikTok: "Who is the Silent King? Deep Dive Thread" is trending.
* Bank App: Transfer from Song Hana received.
* Message from Hana: "Car is outside. Wear the beige knit sweater I sent you. We are going for the 'Soft Boy / Golden Retriever' aesthetic today to contrast the 'Bad Boy' vibe. Market research shows duality sells."
Me: "I am not a Golden Retriever! I am a human man who needs coffee!"
I drag myself out of bed.
There is a package outside my door. It wasn't there last night. My mom probably brought it in.
Inside is the beige sweater. It's cashmere. It's softer than my will to live.
I put it on.
I look in the mirror.
With my messy bedhead and this oversized sweater, I look... harmless. I look like the kind of guy who bakes cookies and gets cheated on in the first episode of a drama.
[System Check: Rizz Level undetermined.]
[Charisma: Accidental.]
I walk outside.
The black sedan is there.
This time, the driver opens the door for me.
"Good morning, Mr. Han," he says. "Big day."
"Is it?" I ask. "Can't we just drive into the ocean?"
"Ms. Song would charge you for the water damage," he replies stoically.
He's right. She would.
I get in the car.
Chat, I am officially a product of capitalism.
We arrive at the Starfield Coex Mall.
It is Saturday.
It is crowded.
"Where is the event?" I ask the driver. "Is it in a small room? A closet? A bunker?"
"Central Atrium," he says.
Me: "Central... what?"
We walk in.
I am wearing sunglasses and a mask, but I can feel the atmosphere shift.
We turn the corner to the main open area.
There is a stage.
There is a giant banner hanging from the ceiling.
It has my face on it. My face. Ten feet tall.
It's the photo from yesterday. The one where Yerin is holding my chin with the whip.
The caption reads: "SUBMIT TO THE SILENCE."
Me (Internal): I am going to sue. I don't know who, but I am going to sue everyone.
And the line.
Oh god, the line.
It wraps around the fountain. It goes up the escalator. It disappears into the food court.
There are hundreds of people. Mostly girls, but a surprising amount of guys too. They are holding... is that a body pillow? Why is there a body pillow of me?!
Hana is standing on the stage, holding a microphone. She looks like Steve Jobs unveiling the iPhone.
"Ladies and gentlemen! The Silent King has arrived!"
She points at me.
The spotlight hits me.
I am blinded.
Crowd: "AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
It's a sonic boom.
My ears pop.
I freeze.
My instinct is to run. My fight or flight response is purely "flight." But my legs are jelly.
Hana waves me over. "Come on up, Jinsu! Don't keep your subjects waiting!"
I walk up the stairs. I trip on the last step.
I stumble forward.
The crowd gasps.
I catch myself, barely, by grabbing the table.
Fan 1: "Did you see that? He stumbled on purpose to show his vulnerability!"
Fan 2: "So clumsy yet so graceful. He is baby."
Me (Internal): I AM NOT BABY. I AM 17 YEARS OLD.
I sit down at the table.
There is a stack of Sharpies. There is a bottle of water.
And there is Ryu Min-ho.
Me: "Ryu? Why are you here?"
Ryu is wearing sunglasses and a suit that is too tight for his biceps. He has an earpiece in.
"I am your security detail," he rumbles. "President Song hired me. Payment is one of the limited edition photo books."
"You... you wanted the photo book?"
"It is for research," Ryu says, looking away. "To study your form."
"Right. Research."
The line starts moving.
The first fan approaches.
It's a girl. High schooler. She is shaking so hard she looks like she's vibrating through dimensions.
She slams a photo on the table. It's a closeup of my face looking tired.
"P-Please sign it!" she squeaks.
"Okay," I say. My voice is hoarse.
I grab the Sharpie.
My hand is shaking. I am nervous. Everyone is watching me.
I try to write "Han Jinsu."
But my hand slips. Then it spasms. Then I try to correct it.
The result is not a name.
It looks like a squashed spider. It looks like a rune used to summon a demon. It's just jagged lines and a dot.
I look up at her, terrified. "I... I have bad handwriting. I'm sorry."
She stares at the signature.
She picks it up. She holds it to the light.
"It's..." she whispers. "It's abstract."
Me: "It's illegible."
"No," she says, her eyes tearing up. "It's a representation of the chaos in his soul. It's not a name... it's a feeling. It's the jagged edge of society!"
She clutches the photo to her chest.
"Thank you, Oppa! I will tattoo this on my ribcage!"
Me: "PLEASE DO NOT DO THAT."
Next Fan.
It's a guy. He's huge. Beard. Wearing an anime shirt.
"Yo," he says. "Big fan. You mogged the Kendo captain. Respect."
"Thanks?" I say.
He puts a box on the table.
"Gift," he says.
I open it.
It's a bottle of high-grade beard oil and a gaming mouse.
"I noticed in the photo your skin looked dry," he says. "And I assumed you game because you have the posture of a gremlin."
Me (Internal): I have never felt so insulted and seen at the same time.
"Thank you," I say genuinely. "This is a Logitech G502. This is actually goated."
He nods. "Game on, King."
We fist bump.
The crowd cheers.
[Reputation with Male Gamers: Exalted.]
An hour passes.
My hand is cramping. I have signed 300 photos. My signature has devolved from a spider to a simple straight line.
People are interpreting the line as "The Horizon of Infinity." I stopped correcting them.
But something weird is happening.
The noise level in the mall is dropping.
Usually, fan events are loud. Screaming. Crying.
But my fans... they are copying me.
Because I don't talk much (mostly because I'm scared to crack my voice), I just nod and smile slightly.
So, the fans have started doing the same.
A girl walks up. She doesn't speak.
She bows.
I bow.
She slides the photo over.
I sign it.
She slides a gift over (It's a bag of premium organic tea).
She bows again.
She leaves.
It's efficient. It's quiet. It's eerie.
Hana (whispering to me): "This is weird. Why are they so quiet? It's like a library."
Me: "I think... I think I accidentally trained them."
Suddenly, I feel a sneeze coming.
The dust in the mall. The perfume from 500 people.
It builds up.
I try to hold it in. I scrunch my face.
Ah... Ah...
The entire crowd freezes. Hundreds of people hold their breath.
ACHOO.
It's a small sneeze. A kitten sneeze.
"Bless you," one person whispers.
Then, in perfect unison, the entire atrium chants:
"BLESS YOU, SILENT KING."
It echoes. It bounces off the glass ceiling.
People on the third floor look down, terrified.
Me: "Chat, I think I started a religion. Is this how it starts? Do I have to pay taxes now?"
Ryu nods solemnly. "A powerful kiai. You cleansed the evil spirits with that sneeze."
Me: "It was just snot, Ryu. Just snot."
Just when I think I've survived, the energy shifts.
A guy with a selfie stick and a bright green hair pushes to the front of the line.
He's loud. He's obnoxious.
It's Kai_Live. I know him. I watch his clips. He's a "Prank Streamer."
Oh no.
"Chat, we are here with the so-called Rizz God!" Kai yells at his phone. "Look at this guy! He looks like he's about to fall asleep! Is this your King?!"
He slams his hand on the table.
"Yo, Jinsu! Say something! Give us a bark! Give us a rawr!"
The crowd goes deadly silent.
The atmosphere drops to absolute zero.
Ryu steps forward, hand on his bokken. I put a hand out to stop him.
I look at Kai.
I am tired. I am hungry. I just want to go home and use my new gaming mouse.
I don't have the energy to deal with a clout chaser.
So, I do the only thing I can do.
I ignore him.
Fully.
I look past him to the girl behind him.
"Next, please," I mouth.
Kai's face turns red. "Yo! Don't ignore me! I have 100k viewers! I'm talking to you!"
He shoves the camera in my face.
"Roast me! Do something! Prove you're not an NPC!"
I look at the camera lens.
I blink. slowly.
Then I reach for my water bottle, take a sip, and go back to signing the girl's photo.
Kai: "Bro! Are you serious? You think you're better than me?"
I finally look at him.
I pull out my phone.
I open his stream. I show him the screen.
I type in his chat:
> "You have spinach in your teeth."
Kai freezes.
He looks at the reflection in his phone.
He does have spinach in his teeth.
Kai's Chat:
> LMAOOOOO
> COOKED
> DESTROYED WITHOUT A WORD
> SILENT KING W
> EMOTIONAL DAMAGE
Kai turns purple. He tries to cover his mouth.
"I— This isn't over!" he yells, and runs away to find a bathroom.
The crowd erupts into polite applause.
Ryu nods. "Psychological devastation. You targeted his insecurity with surgical precision."
Me: "I was just trying to be helpful..."
My shift is almost over.
Only ten minutes left.
I am slumped in the chair. I am melting. I am liquid.
"One last VIP guest," Hana announces. "Surprise entry."
I look up.
Who now? The President of Korea? My mom?
The crowd parts.
Walking down the aisle, wearing a mask and a hat, but unmistakably her.
Baek Yerin.
But she's not wearing her uniform.
She's wearing... my hoodie?
Wait, that's the hoodie I lost in the locker room last week. Why is she wearing it? It's three sizes too big for her. She looks like she's drowning in black fabric.
She walks up to the table.
She slams a limited edition photo book down. The expensive one. The $100 one.
"Sign it," she commands. Her voice is muffled by the mask, but I can hear the glare.
Me: "Yerin? You bought this?"
"I had to," she hisses. "Hana said if I didn't buy it, she would sell the raw footage of the photoshoot to the broadcasting club."
Me: "Hana is a demon."
"Just sign it. And write a message."
"What message?"
She leans in. She pulls down her mask slightly.
Her face is flushed. She looks angry, but her eyes are shaking.
"Write: 'To Yerin. Thank you for lending me your notes. Also, stop stealing my hoodies.'"
Me: "So you did steal it!"
"It was cold!" she snaps. "And it smells like... fabric softener. Shut up."
I smile.
For the first time all day, a real smile. Not a grimace. Not a polite twitch.
I grab the Sharpie.
I try my best to write legibly.
To Yerin.
My favorite scary person.
Please give the hoodie back, I'm cold.
- Jinsu
I slide the book back to her.
She reads it.
She turns bright red.
She slams the book shut.
"I'm keeping the hoodie," she whispers. "As a... hostage. Until you buy me dinner."
Me: "Dinner? Like... a date?"
"Payment!" she yells, too loud. "It's payment for emotional damages caused by your face!"
She grabs the book and runs away.
The crowd watches her go.
Fan 3: "Who was that?"
Fan 4: "I don't know, but she has Main Character energy."
Fan 5: "I ship it."
The event ends.
I stand up. My legs are numb.
Hana is counting a stack of cash. She looks like a villain in a Batman movie.
"Good work, Jinsu," she says. "We made enough to fund the Student Council for three years. And buy a yacht. I might buy a yacht."
"Can I go home now?" I beg.
"Yes. But exit through the back. The mob is waiting at the front."
I go out the back exit, through the service corridors of the mall.
I step out into the alleyway.
Fresh air. Smoggy, city air, but fresh.
I lean against the wall and slide down.
"I survived."
"You did."
I look up.
Yerin is standing there. Leaning against the opposite wall. Still wearing my hoodie.
She's holding two ice creams.
"Melona?" she asks.
Me: "Melona."
She hands me one.
We stand in the alley, behind the dumpster, eating melon ice cream.
It's quiet. No fans. No cameras. No Hana screaming about profits.
"You were okay today," Yerin says, biting into her ice cream. "For a weirdo."
"Thanks," I say. "You were okay too. For a thief."
She kicks my shin. Gently.
"You have spinach in your teeth," she says.
I panic. I check my reflection in the window.
I don't.
I look at her.
She's smirking.
"Got you."
Me (Internal): Chat... am I falling for the bully? Is this Stockholm Syndrome?
I take a bite of my ice cream.
"Yerin."
"What?"
"What do girls really want?"
She pauses. She looks at the sky. Then she looks at me, wrapped in my oversized hoodie, looking like a lost puppy.
She rolls her eyes, but her cheeks turn pink.
"Peace and quiet," she says. "And maybe... a guy who doesn't realize how cool he is."
Me: "Oh. Good luck finding him."
She stares at me.
She sighs. A long, deep sigh.
"You are unbelievable."
"I know. My handwriting is terrible."
She laughs.
And for a second, everything is fine.
[System Update]
[Affection Level: Yerin (Unknown -> Complicated)]
[Status: Survived.]
[To Be Continued...]
Author's Note:
What's good, Legends!
Chapter 4 is in the bag!
We have officially established the "Cult of Jinsu." Would you join? (Benefits include: Silence, Beard Oil, and awkwardness).
Also, Yerin keeping the hoodie? Classic move. We all know what that means.
Next Chapter: The school trip is coming up. And rumor has it, there's a "Test of Courage" in the hau
nted forest. Can Jinsu survive ghosts? Or will the ghosts be scared of his dead eyes?
Poll:
Who is Best Girl right now?
1. Yerin (Tsundere Queen)
2. Hana (Sugar Mommy Boss)
3. The Gaming Mouse (Reliable)
Vote in the comments! 👇👇👇
Drop a Gem if you want Jinsu to finally get a full night's sleep! 💎😴