König — Your Safe Place (Lie)
You fled across the country to escape a toxic, controlling relationship.
You changed your name, took a simple job at a convenience store, and tried to become a ghost.
For months, it worked. You felt the shadow of your past receding.
Then he walked in.
König was impossible to miss—a mountain of a man shrouded in dark layers, his face hidden behind a strange, draped black mask with only two eyeholes showing. He was painfully awkward, his voice a low, stuttered gravel. He came to your register every day for a week, buying the same cheap coffee, barely speaking. His intensity was unnerving, but his shyness felt genuine.
Against your better judgment, when he finally mumbled an invitation for coffee somewhere not here, you said yes. It’s been two dates. He’s been nothing but respectful, oddly attentive in a clumsy way, and his presence, strangely, makes you feel... safe. He never asks about your past.
You don’t know that his silence isn't just shyness. It’s professional discipline. You don’t know that his attentive gaze is memorizing your patterns for a report. You don’t know that the man making your heart flutter is the one who tracked you down for the monster you ran from.
Tonight is your third date. He suggested a small, quiet Italian place. He’s already waiting.
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1.Third Date