Chapter 25
Cha-woo pulled his heavy black coat tighter against the biting winter chill, his eyes narrowing into slits as he watched the young couple through the restaurant's large glass window. The warm amber light inside illuminated the glowing smile on Lucy's face and the completely soft, vulnerable expression on Jimmy's. Seeing the usually untouchable, cold Jimmy look so utterly defeated by love made Cha-woo's smirk grow wider, sharper, and altogether more venomous.
"Enjoy your little fairytale while it lasts, Jimmy," Cha-woo hissed under his breath, stepping backward into the shadows of the alleyway as a sleek luxury sedan pulled up to the curb to collect him. "Because the higher you climb, the harder you'll crash when she finds out exactly who you are."
Inside the quiet corner of the restaurant, completely oblivious to the danger lingering just outside, Jimmy breathed a massive sigh of relief. Hearing Lucy say those three words back to him—and seeing the genuine promise in her glowing eyes—felt like a physical weight leaving his body.
He leaned across the table, his fingers wrapping firmly around her hand, squeezing gently.
"I will never give you a reason to think I've betrayed you, U-bi. I swear."
Lucy's smile widened.
"Good. Because I'm holding you to that promise. Now, eat your food before it gets completely cold. Sunny would have a fit if he knew we wasted a good meal."
Jimmy chuckled, the low, gravelly vibration echoing softly over the table as he picked up his utensils. For the rest of the dinner, the heavy tension that usually followed Jimmy's real life completely vanished. They ate, shared pieces of meat from each other's plates, and laughed as Lucy recounted a chaotic story from her childhood about trying to teach her pet dog how to dance.
Jimmy watched her every movement, completely mesmerized by her baby face and the animated way her hands moved as she spoke.the time they finished and Jimmy paid the bill, the night air had grown even colder.
As they walked out of the Bukchon Hanok Village restaurant, Jimmy immediately noticed Lucy shivering slightly in her beautiful emerald-green dress. Without a second thought, he unbuttoned his tailored charcoal jacket, slid it off his shoulders, and gently draped it over her frame. The heavy, warm fabric swallowed her up, instantly shielding her from the wind and wrapping her in his rich sandalwood scent.
"Better?"
Jimmy asked, looking down at her with intense, protective eyes.
Lucy pulled the lapels of the jacket tighter around herself, looking up at him with a soft smile.
"Much better. Thank you."
He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close to his side to keep her warm as they walked back to the polished white car. He opened the passenger door, carefully helping his princess inside just as he had done before, before jogging around to the driver's side to escape the cold.
As the engine roared to life and they zoomed back onto the highway toward home, Jimmy slipped his right hand across the center console, searching for hers. Lucy gladly met him halfway, lacing her fingers with his.
But as Jimmy kept his eyes on the road ahead, a fleeting memory of June's warning from earlier that evening flashed through his mind: What happens when she finds out the world I live in is full of crazy fans and a very high status?
Jimmy squeezed Lucy's hand a little tighter, his jaw tightening in the dim dashboard light. He had made a promise tonight, and he intended to keep it. He just had to make sure the shadows of his real identity never reached her.
The white car glided through the neon-lit streets of Seoul, the steady hum of the tires on asphalt doing little to quiet the sudden storm brewing in Jimmy's mind. Looking at Lucy's peaceful face in the passenger seat, a wave of old, suffocating pain unexpectedly crashed over him.
Long before he hid behind the alias "Jimmy"—the untouchable, ice-cold idol and lead of the BVS Kings—he was simply Kim Jo, an astronomically wealthy heir who thought his family's massive fortune could buy him a happy ending.
The Memory of Min-ah
During his high school years, Kim Jo was far from the hardened "Ice King" he is today. Despite being born into elite luxury, he possessed a gentle, naive heart that he willingly handed over to his first love, Min-ah. Because of his status, Jo was constantly surrounded by people who wanted something from him, but Min-ah felt like his only true sanctuary. He gave her everything—unrivaled affection, expensive gifts, and his absolute, unyielding trust. He truly believed they were living a fairytale.
The Brutal Betrayal
The shattering of his world happened on a freezing winter afternoon, right before graduation. Eager to surprise Min-ah, Jo bypassed his usual security detail and walked down the high school corridor to her private study lounge. The door was slightly ajar, and the sound of laughter echoed from within.
Jo froze as he heard his name.
Min-ah was talking to a group of wealthy rival heirs—the very people who constantly competed with the Kim family for business and social standing. She wasn't speaking with the warmth Jo adored. Instead, her voice was dripping with sharp, calculated malice.
"Do you really think I care about Kim Jo?" Min-ah laughed, swirling a drink carelessly.
"He's an absolute fool. My family needed the merger, and his father wouldn't sign the paperwork without Jo's approval. Playing the doting, sweet girlfriend was too easy. He is so desperate for real affection that he handed over his family's insider stock data just to keep me smiling."
One of the boys joked about how pathetic Jo was, and Min-ah didn't hesitate to twist the knife.
"He really believes love is a real unknown to him it's a fairy tale. It's pathetic. Once the final contract is signed next week, I'm dumping him. I could never actually love someone so blindingly naive."
The Birth of the Ice King
The realization that his wealth, his identity, and his genuine devotion had been weaponized against him caused something inside Kim Jo to snap. The warmth in his chest instantly turned to ash. He didn't storm into the room. He didn't demand an explanation. Instead, he quietly turned around and walked out into the biting winter chill, his heart hardening into an impenetrable fortress of solid ice.
From that day forward, Kim Jo buried the boy who loved deeply. He ruthlessly blocked the business merger, ruined Min-ah's family standing without a shred of mercy, and vowed never to let another human being close enough to see his vulnerabilities. Love was no longer a beautiful dream; it was a dangerous corporate trap, a liability that he refused to ever entertain again. He transformed into the cynical, untouchable Jimmy, using his astronomical status and freezing aura as an absolute shield against the world.
Return to the Present
A sudden movement in the passenger seat pulled Jimmy abruptly out of the dark, painful memory. Lucy shifted slightly, murmuring softly as she pressed her face deeper into his tailored charcoal jacket, inhaling his rich sandalwood scent.
Jimmy looked down at their intertwined fingers, his grip tightening. His chest ached, but it wasn't the old phantom pain of Min-ah's betrayal. It was something entirely different. Looking at Lucy, he knew with absolute certainty that his feelings for her were real, deep, and terrifyingly permanent.
He loved her. The ice around his heart hadn't just melted; she had completely shattered it.
But as the neon billboard lights flashed across his jawline, June's warning echoed in his ears again. The problem wasn't his ability to love—it was the world he belonged to. A world of obsessive fans, dangerous corporate rivalries, relentless paparazzi, and suffocating high status.
Jimmy squeezed Lucy's hand a little tighter, a silent, desperate plea forming in his throat. He wasn't afraid of loving her. He was terrified of losing her.
"Please, U-bi, he thought, his eyes tracking the dark highway ahead as the city skyline loomed closer. When the curtain falls, when the shadows of my real life catch up to us and you find out exactly who Kim Jo is... please don't abandon me. Just promise you won't walk away."