Kael didn't wait for the green light. He stormed into the rehearsal room, still in his coat, face burning—not from shame, but from rage. The others were already there. Tension wrapped the air like barbed wire.
Sion stood, lips pressed into a tight line. "You shouldn't have walked out like that."
"They want me to erase him," Kael snapped. "On stage. Off stage. In my life."
Klan entered quietly behind him. He looked pale, smaller than usual, but there was something firm in his steps. He wasn't here to hide.
Eren tossed his phone aside. "They're changing the choreography for our comeback. Moving Klan to the far edge. Rewriting lyrics. And Kael… they want you to sing the bridge with Eira instead."
Kael's hands curled into fists. "They're burning our story."
"They're burning us," Klan said, voice low but clear. "To protect a lie."
---
Later that night, Kael sat alone in the practice room, the glow of the mirror bouncing his reflection back at him—tired eyes, cracked knuckles, but a heartbeat that still pulsed wildly for one person only.
Klan stepped in, holding a folder. "I rewrote the lyrics."
Kael looked up.
Klan opened it slowly, revealing a new version of their title track: "Eclipsed Hearts." The words were raw. Real. About being hidden, punished, but refusing to disappear.
"I don't want to lie on stage," Klan said. "If we're going to perform, let's tell the truth. Let's burn the script."
Kael rose. He took the pages, eyes scanning the verses. His voice cracked as he whispered the new chorus.
> "Even in shadows, I saw you burn—
Not a star, but a wildfire I couldn't unlearn."
He looked up.
"Let's do it," he said. "Let's make them hear us."
---
They rehearsed until 3 a.m., rewriting harmonies, creating a new routine—one that brought Klan to the center, one that made every glance, every brush of fingers intentional. Not romantic. Not obvious. But undeniable to those who saw clearly.
By morning, Sion joined them.
Then Tavi.
Then Eren.
By sunrise, Lumina wasn't following the company's script anymore.
They were writing their own.
---
Back at CYN Entertainment, the CEO received an email.
Subject: LUMINA's New Track – "Eclipsed Hearts"
Attached: Demo, Choreo File, Performance Notes
From: Kael Ahn
> "We're not afraid of scandal. We're afraid of silence. If you can't support our truth, we'll find a stage that will."
No threats. Just fire.
---