Chapter 47 – "If No One Knew It Was You…"
Behind the Gold: AUREUS Unfiltered – Episode 7
Theme: Anonymous Confessions
Live Viewership: 1.11 billion
#AnonymousTruths #AUREUSUnfilteredEp7 #GoldBehindTheMasks
Host Jeon Mira (smiling faintly):
"Tonight's theme is a little different."
She holds up a small black box with seven gold masks inside. Sleek. Expressionless.
Jeon Mira:
"What would you say… if no one knew it was you?"
Each member will wear a voice-masking mic and a gold mask behind a black screen. Their words will be played back, voice warped beyond recognition.
Even their body language is hidden.
Just truth. No identity.
No safety net.
The audience holds their breath.
Confession 1:
Voice (modulated, cold but amused):
"I once cried backstage. Not because I was sad…
but because I was scared I'd never feel happy again.
And no one noticed."
Live Chat:
"That was Rin… right?"
"No, no, that has Minjae energy. So precise."
Confession 2:
Voice (soft, broken):
"I hate when people say I'm the 'strong one.'
Because then I have to keep being that.
Even when I'm not."
Jeon Mira exhales slowly.
A few audience members blink back tears.
Live Chat:
"This one shattered me."
"Hyunjae… it has to be."
Confession 3:
Voice (low and bitter):
"There was a time I thought I'd be forgotten.
Now I'm terrified I never will be."
Confession 4:
Voice (measured, almost clinical):
"I sabotage myself sometimes.
Because I'm scared I won't know who I am if I actually succeed."
Confession 5:
Voice (playful, but wavering):
"I used to pray no one would notice when I made a mistake.
Now I pray someone will just see me.
Not the image. Just me."
Confession 6:
Voice (carefully flat):
"I loved someone I could never have.
I still do."
The audience goes still.
This one hits harder than the rest.
Live Chat explodes:
"That's HIM. That's Jaeheon."
"It has to be. It matches the songs, the ball, the everything."
"He really can't let her go, can he?"
But before the chat can recover—
Confession 7:
Voice (emotionless):
"I didn't want to be an idol.
I wanted to disappear.
But I thought if I sang loud enough, maybe she'd hear me."
Jeon Mira stares at the screen, stunned.
The audience doesn't breathe.
Even the members look shaken.
Behind the Screen – POV: Jaeheon
He doesn't move behind the black curtain.
Doesn't look at the mask in his hand.
He doesn't need to.
He already said too much.
And they still don't know who she is.
That's the only secret he has left.
I never wanted the world to know.
But every time I sing, every time I speak—
you bleed out of me anyway.
Elsewhere – POV: Anastasia Celeste Volkov
In a quiet room lit by cold blue light, Anastasia rewinds the broadcast.
Listens again.
And again.
Confession 7.
The tone. The silence. The pause.
Anastasia (quietly):
"You sang… so I'd hear you?"
She almost laughs. But it's hollow.
Anastasia:
"You don't love me.
You love the version of me you built to survive without."
She closes the screen.
Still, she replays the words in her mind.
They linger—like a code she hasn't cracked.