CHAPTER 2: THE COLLISION
1040 Words
The moment the pen left the paper, the woman in scarlet lipstick snapped the folder shut with a satisfied click.
“Good,” she said smoothly, tucking it under her arm. “From this moment on, you don’t exist. You will keep silent, stay invisible, and never—ever—be seen with him again.”
Her gaze cut toward Jiwon. “You. Back to rehearsal. We’ll spin this before it destroys us.”
With that, the suits and their commander swept out, heels echoing against the marble until the door slammed shut behind them.
And just like that, it was only the two of them.
Silence stretched, thick and suffocating.
She stood frozen by the table, hands trembling at her sides. He sat across from her, still as stone, eyes unreadable. For a moment, she wondered if he would ignore her completely. Pretend she was already erased.
Then his voice sliced through the quiet.
“You shouldn’t have been there.”
Her head snapped up. “Excuse me?”
His gaze locked on her, cold and unflinching. “If you hadn’t been in that alley, none of this would’ve happened.”
Her chest tightened. The anger she’d been holding back since the night before finally snapped free. “I was going home from work. I didn’t ask for any of this. You ran into me.”
He flinched almost imperceptibly, but his jaw hardened. “Doesn’t matter. Now your face is tied to mine. Do you have any idea what that means?”
“Yes.” Her voice shook, but she forced herself to hold his stare. “It means I get to be hated by millions of strangers for something I didn’t even do.”
For the first time, his expression cracked. Something flickered in his eyes—guilt, maybe, or recognition—but it was gone before she could be sure.
He stood suddenly, the chair legs scraping against the floor. In two strides he was in front of her, his height forcing her to tilt her head back.
“Listen to me, Malina.” His voice was low, dangerous, but softer than it had been in the alley. “If you want to survive this, you stay quiet. Don’t talk. Don’t post. Don’t breathe unless I tell you. Understand?”
Her pulse raced. His nearness was suffocating, infuriating. She should have been afraid. Instead, something hot and electric coiled in her stomach.
“I’m not your puppet,” she whispered.
His lips curved—not into a smile, but into something sharper. “You’re right. You’re worse.”
Her brows knit. “Worse?”
His eyes darkened. “You’re my accident.”
Her breath caught, her body betraying her with a shiver she couldn’t suppress.
And then, just as suddenly as he’d stepped into her space, he pulled back, mask of indifference snapping back into place. “Stay out of my way.”
He left without another word, the door slamming shut so hard the glass walls trembled.
Malina sank into the empty chair, her heart still racing, his words echoing inside her chest.
You’re my accident.
But deep down, she already knew accidents had consequences.
And this one was only just beginning.
Malina’s POV
By the time she left the agency building, the sky had cleared. The city looked too normal for the chaos inside her head—streets humming with cars, people rushing past with coffee cups and shopping bags. Nobody knew. Nobody cared.
But they would.
Her phone buzzed endlessly in her pocket. She didn’t need to look to know what it was—more photos, more articles, more venom.
Her legs felt heavy as she trudged across campus. She wanted to slip into invisibility again, to blend back into the background like before. But whispers followed her. Heads turned.
“That’s her,” someone hissed as she passed the library.
“She’s the one with Han Jiwon.”
“God, she’s not even pretty.”
The words cut sharper than the rain last night.
By the time she reached her dorm room, her chest ached from holding herself together. She shut the door, pressed her back against it, and let herself crumble.
Her reflection in the cracked mirror looked foreign—red-rimmed eyes, pale face, fear shadowing her features. She hated it. Hated him. Hated herself for the way his voice still echoed in her head.
You’re my accident.
So why did it feel like something more?
---
Jiwon’s POV
The practice room smelled of sweat and desperation. His bandmates laughed somewhere behind him, tossing a ball, scrolling their phones, pretending not to notice the storm brewing around him.
Jiwon stood at the mirror, shirt damp from rehearsal, chest heaving. He didn’t recognize the face staring back. The flawless idol. The one everyone adored.
The one who was falling apart.
His phone buzzed on the bench, another alert flashing. He didn’t need to read it. He knew what it said.
Scandal. Girlfriend. Mystery woman.
Her face blurred, but he saw it anyway. Malina.
The name sat heavy in his chest. He hated that he remembered it, hated how it sounded when he’d said it aloud. He’d meant to scare her. To remind her who held the power.
So why did it feel like she was the one haunting him?
He could still see her wide eyes in the rain. Still feel the way her breath caught when he’d leaned in too close.
Jiwon swore under his breath, dragging a towel over his face. He couldn’t afford this. Not now. Not ever. He was supposed to be untouchable. Unshakable.
And yet—when he closed his eyes, all he saw was her.
The girl he should have forgotten.
The girl who was already ruining him.
---
Malina’s POV
Night fell heavy, but sleep didn’t come. Her phone lit up in the darkness, vibrating with another flood of notifications.
She ignored them—until one message made her freeze.
Unknown number.
Stay inside. Don’t go anywhere alone.
Her stomach twisted. She didn’t need to ask who it was.
Han Jiwon.
The boy who had sworn she was his accident… was suddenly warning her, protecting her.
And that terrified her more than the scandal itself.
- Writer
