€200 NL HE MTT: Close to bubble bb all in

Hello, tournament live

Tournament 100 players, avarage stack 20bb, 23 players remaining, itm 15players, 8 players

Lj (18bb raises 2bb), hero bu calls 2bb (23bb stack) Kjo, bb calls (10bb)

Flop 7.5bb pot

3x checks

Turn 7.5bb pot

bb checks, lj check, hero bets 2bb ( I decide to bet for protection), bb raises all in 9bb, lj folds, hero?

No info about player. He has just come from another table. What do you think, about this hand?

Preflop
18BB is sort of rejam or fold territory, but if SB is deeper, then you are 23BB effective, which is pretty borderline with KJo. I dont totally love calling though, when BB is sitting with 10BB, because he can easily jam on you, and that will force you to fold. So while I would always play KJs, I think KJo is just a fold. Yes you have position, but you are also against an LJ open, where you will be dominated quite a bit.

Flop
No reason to bet middle pair in a multiway pot, getting one step closer to showdown is perfect.

Turn
One would assume, that any hand better than yours would mostly have bet by now, apart from maybe AJ exactly. So there is some merit to making a small bet for value and equity denial. It would also not be crazy to check back again though, since you are mostly worried about an ace coming on the river. As played I think, the check-jam is far more likely to be for value than a bluff, and you lose to both a Q and a 4 now. So sigh-fold and spare the rest of your chips for a better spot.