"Honesty. The right to make my own choices. The ability to say my real name without it becoming dangerous." He paused. "The right to want someone without destroying everyone around me."
His voice dropped. "If anyone proves I'm—if they expose what I am—it ends not only for me. It ends for all of them: Jinwoo, Taemin, and Minjae. Everything they've sacrificed. Every endorsement deal. Every opportunity. Gone because of me."
My heart hammered. "Rune—"
"Yoon-jae." Barely above a whisper. "My real name is Seo Yoon-jae. When it's just us, that's who I am."
Heat flooded through me—immediate and visceral. Want and discipline collided. I gripped the chair arms to keep my hands still.
"That's not safe," I managed.
"Nothing about this is safe. I'm tired of pretending safety and erasure are the same thing."
I saw years of exhaustion carved into him. He looked almost translucent in the low light, something precious and impermanent.
When he turned to look at me, he was solid. Real. Close enough to touch.
My body made decisions my mind couldn't allow. Pulse elevated. Skin hypersensitive. Acute awareness of the six inches between us: temperature, breath, and the angle of his mouth.
"You asked for me specifically," I said. Voice rough.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted you here." His breath caught. "Not security. You."
The distinction unmade me.
I wanted to close those six inches. Wanted to know if his skin was warm everywhere. Wanted to trace his collarbone. Wanted to hear him say my name the way he'd just said his own. My hands ached to reach out and touch.
"Yoon-jae." I tested his name carefully.
"I'm not asking you to cross lines. I just—I needed you here. To not feel alone."
That broke something seduction never could.
"I'll stay," I said. "As long as you need."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Relief transformed his face.
He moved to the far bed, settling with his back against the headboard, knees pulled up. Making space, but not distance.
I stayed in my chair. Far enough for boundaries. Close enough to respond.
The city breathed below us. Sirens. Traffic. San Francisco at night.
"Tell me something true," Rune said finally.
"About what?"
"Anything. Something you rarely say."
I thought about what I'd been holding since I'd touched his spine and felt his body trust mine.
