Chasing Perfection || Lee Know

A Quiet Confession

The sun dipped lower into the horizon, bathing the apartment in hues of soft orange. Hyejin sat cross-legged on the couch, absentmindedly scrolling through her phone. She could still feel the faint thrum of adrenaline in her veins, the fear from the chase lingering like a shadow. Lee Know was perched on the armrest opposite her, one leg bent, scrolling through his own screen.

The silence wasn't uncomfortable, but it was heavy with unspoken thoughts.

"You're too quiet," she finally said, looking up.

"Coming from you, that's rich," he shot back, not missing a beat.

She scowled. "I mean it. Don't you... I don't know, process stuff by yelling or brooding? You're weirdly composed for someone who just punched another guy and put him in jail."

He leaned back, crossing his arms. "Would yelling help? Maybe I should give it a try. Want me to start with, 'why do you keep walking home alone?'"

"Don't start." She groaned, sinking deeper into the cushions. "I've already gotten the lecture."

"And you'll keep getting it until you learn." He said as he stared back at his own screen

She rolled her eyes. "You know, I liked it better when you were the quiet, unbothered type."

"And I liked it better when you weren't breaking into tears over shadows."

That hit a nerve. Her eyes flashed as she sat up straighter. "I wasn't crying."

"You looked close enough."

Hyejin grabbed a cushion and lobbed it at him, which he caught effortlessly. His smirk deepened as he held it like a shield.

A knock on the door broke their standoff. Hyejin flinched, her breath hitching as her head snapped toward the sound.

"It's probably Seojin again," Lee Know said, getting up. "Relax."

Sure enough, Seojin waltzed in moments later, holding a shopping bag. He lifted it with a grin. "Thought you'd need some essentials."

Hyejin blinked. "Essentials?"

"Clothes," Seojin said simply, setting the bag on the counter. "No offense, but you look like a middle schooler playing dress-up."

Lee Know snorted, earning a sharp glare from Hyejin. "Don't encourage him."

"I'm just saying," Seojin continued, unfazed, "you're lucky Minho here is loaded. Otherwise, you'd be stuck in his weirdly minimal wardrobe forever."

Lee Know groaned. "Don't you have anything better to do than make fun of me in my own home?"

"Nope," Seojin replied cheerfully, popping open a drink from Lee Know's fridge. "But seriously, hyung, you need to sort this out. If this guy's still around, it's not just Hyejin who's at risk."

His tone shifted, and Hyejin frowned. "What do you mean?"

Lee Know exchanged a look with his brother, hesitation flickering across his face. "Seojun... he's not just some random creep. He's been doing this for a while. I've been keeping tabs."

"You knew about him?" Hyejin's voice sharpened.

"I suspected," he admitted. "But I couldn't do anything without proof. That's why I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to feel..."

"Paranoid?" she finished for him, her voice cold.

"Trapped," he corrected.

She crossed her arms, glaring at the floor. "And now I'm both."

"Oh look, it's mom calling. I better go. Enjoy your sleepover you two"
He teased looking at both Hyejin and Lee Know.

After Seojin left, Lee Know found Hyejin standing by the window, staring out at the darkening sky.

"You should've told me," she said without turning around.

"And made you feel unsafe every day?"

"Newsflash, Minho: I'm already unsafe. The least you could've done was let me know what I was walking into."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You're right. I should've told you. But it wouldn't have changed anything. He would've gone after you either way."

She spun around, her eyes blazing. "At least I would've been prepared."

The frustration hung thick in the air between them. Finally, he took a step closer, his voice softer. "I know you're angry. And scared. I'm not letting anything happen to you, Hyejin. Not on my watch."

Her shoulders slumped slightly, some of the fight leaving her. She hated how much she wanted to believe him.

That evening, as Hyejin leaned against the counter, she caught sight of Lee Know's laptop on the table. The screen displayed rows of security footage from his building.

"You really are prepared for everything," she muttered, more to herself than him.

He glanced up from where he was wiping down the counter. "Comes with the territory."

She smirked. "What territory? Being annoyingly perfect?"

"Someone has to be, considering your track record," he retorted, leaning casually against the counter opposite her.

"Track record? Excuse me?"

"You're the one who got chased into a dead-end alley."

She glared. "And you're the one who decided punching him was a great idea instead of calling the cops."

"Worked, didn't it?"

She rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth twitched. "You're insufferable."

"And you're impossible."

Their bickering was interrupted by the buzz of Lee Know's phone. He glanced at it and frowned.

"Police updates?" she guessed.

"Something like that," he said vaguely, slipping the phone into his pocket.

That night, as Hyejin prepared for bed, she hesitated at the door to the guest room. The shadows seemed longer, darker than they had the night before. Her pulse quickened, and she forced herself to take a steadying breath.

But the moment she stepped inside, a faint rustling outside the window sent her bolting back into the hallway. She found herself standing in front of Lee Know's door before she could think twice.

He opened it before she even knocked, his expression halfway between annoyance and concern.

"You're not sleeping here," he said flatly.

"I wasn't going to." She crossed her arms defensively. "I just... heard something."

His eyes softened slightly, and he stepped aside. "Come in. Let's check the cameras."

They spent the next few minutes scrolling through footage on his laptop, confirming that nothing suspicious had appeared.

"See?" he said, closing the screen. "Just shadows."

"Shadows can still be dangerous," she muttered.

His lips quirked. "You're really trying to win this argument, aren't you?"

"Someone has to."

He smirked. "Good night, Hyejin."

She hesitated for a moment longer before retreating to the guest room.

Hyejin lay awake in the guest room, the darkness pressing in around her like a suffocating weight. The shadows of the room crept across the walls, stretching with every movement of the wind outside, making her feel exposed. She tossed and turned, the lingering unease from earlier tightening her chest. She couldn't sleep. Not here, not now.

She stood up quietly, tiptoeing past the door to Lee Know's room. The house was eerily still, the silence only broken by the occasional creak of the building's structure. Without thinking, her feet led her downstairs - to the kitchen.

Her mind raced, and despite her exhaustion, she couldn't calm herself. The quiet, empty space felt suffocating, and she began pacing around the kitchen, her restless steps echoing softly in the silence. Every time her eyes flicked to the shadows, they seemed to shift, like something was lurking just out of sight. She couldn't shake the paranoia, the feeling that she wasn't safe, no matter where she was.

She stopped at the window, her fingers pressing against the cool glass. The streetlights outside cast an eerie glow over the street, but the streets were empty. Still, her nerves were frayed, and her body hummed with unease. Her mind kept circling back to what had happened earlier—the chase, the fear, and how Lee Know had pulled her into his arms, kept her safe. It was the first time she had felt truly protected, and yet, she couldn't shake the sense that something wasn't right.

After what felt like an eternity, Hyejin leaned against the counter, her body too tired to keep moving, but her mind too restless to settle. She stood there in the dark kitchen, the silence pressing in around her.

A few hours later, Lee Know stood in the kitchen doorway, his bare feet padding silently on the cold floor. He hadn't planned to check on her—he wasn't even sure why he had gotten up to grab a glass of water. But when he passed the kitchen, his gaze landed on Hyejin.

She had fallen asleep, curled up on the island. The scene hit him like a punch to the gut.

Her hair was messy, her body slack, and her face held an expression of exhaustion so deep it almost made him ache. She had stayed up, not because she had to, but because she couldn't find rest. And for some reason, seeing her like this, vulnerable and unguarded, made something stir within him—a feeling he didn't want to name, a feeling he didn't even dare acknowledge.

Lee Know hesitated for a moment, watching her, before moving toward her. His heart twisted at the sight of her—his mind racing with guilt and tenderness, two emotions that rarely surfaced in his usually calm demeanor. She had been through so much in the last few weeks. She shouldn't be here alone.

Without a second thought, he lifted her carefully into his arms, cradling her against his chest in a bridal carry. Her body was warm, her breathing steady but shallow, and he could feel the faint tremors still lingering in her muscles from earlier. As he walked toward his bedroom, he felt the weight of the moment settle on him.

Once he had her safely in his bed, he tucked her gently beneath the blankets, careful not to wake her. The glow from the bedside lamp cast soft shadows across the room, and Lee Know stood there for a few moments, watching her. His gaze softened as he looked at her face—peaceful now, as though the turmoil of the day had finally eased for her. He wondered if, deep down, she knew how much she meant to him.

His chest tightened with an emotion he had never quite been able to place. Every decision he had made up until now—every time he'd put his own comfort aside to help her, every protective instinct that had kicked in when he saw her hurt, every argument and every quiet moment spent caring for her—had been because of love.

It was a feeling he didn't want to name, a feeling that he had never allowed himself to acknowledge, but which had always been there.

Lee Know leaned down and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering on her soft skin for a moment longer than necessary. His breath was slow and steady, as if he was giving himself time to admit something he had been running from.

He stayed there for a few more minutes, just watching her, his eyes tracing every detail of her face, from the way her lashes fluttered in her sleep to the curve of her lips. A part of him longed to kiss her, to finally bridge the distance that had always existed between them. But instead, he leaned back against the wall, his arms crossed as he tried to convince himself that this was enough for now.

It was enough to love her from a distance.

But deep down, he knew it wasn't.

As the night grew quieter, Lee Know continued to watch her. It wasn't until he finally forced himself to look away that he allowed his gaze to drop to his hands, clenched tightly in his lap. His fingers were still tingling from holding her, and he realized he was still trembling, not with fear, but with something else entirely. Something much deeper.

And for the first time, he didn't fight it.