The hospital waiting room was silent, quiet until every single breath sounded too loud in one's own ears.
Only the sound of footsteps echoed, step by step, over and over, pacing back and forth with a restless, anxious, almost frantic movement.
The sound belonged to Brian Paioz, the manager of the group that graduated from the idol survival program Next Star: Catch Your Five, and every step of his seemed to indicate the panic that was gnawing at his mind.
His face was pale, extremely pale, as if the entire blood flow had stopped somewhere inside his body.
Cold sweat emerged, drenching his forehead and neck, dripping one by one in an irregular rhythm, similar to slow-falling drops of afternoon rain on the street.
Brian kept mumbling, indistinct words, almost like a prayer or a mantra that he was repeating, but none of it sounded convincing, even to himself. Every murmur was a small attempt to calm himself down—an attempt that failed completely.
Meanwhile, on the long bench in the waiting room, Gomsuk, Namsek, Sehan, Oduun, and Bunhang sat rigidly like a row of statues that had lost the spark of life.
Their backs were tense, shoulders raised, breaths caught halfway. Their heads were bowed simultaneously, as if the floor held the answer they could not utter.
They were not thinking about the first live broadcast schedule that they were supposed to be preparing for.
Their minds were seized by something far more stabbing. The girl's face flashed back in their memory: the widening gaze that cracked time, the startled expression that ignited a strange rumble in their chests.
In that fleeting second, their hearts leapt wildly, blood rushed as if sliding through a narrow passage, and their breath was caught somewhere.
Now the sensation still lingered.
Not one of them was able to shake it off. The girl's gaze was stuck in their minds like light permanently etched on the retina—it did not fade even though they blinked repeatedly.
"Do… all of you feel what I'm feeling right now?"
Sehan's voice cracked the silence between them. The tone that came from his lips was so soft—low, hushed, as if reluctant to truly leave his throat.
Only a fragment of a sentence, perhaps just a sigh that took the form of sound, but it was enough to make all their ears twitch subtly.
"I… have never felt anything like this towards a human before. I almost couldn't control myself, as if that girl kept pulling me to keep staring at her."
"Even though I didn't manage to touch her when she was brought here, I could feel a strong and comforting warmth from her body."
"Could… could we perhaps make her an exception from our targets?"
His tone remained low—lower than usual—as if he deliberately lowered it until it was only a shred of a whisper that barely passed the boundary of being heard.
He knew very well he could not draw attention again; they had been conspicuous enough since they first set foot in the hospital.
Oduun, who was sitting beside Sehan, let out a slow breath—a light exhale that sounded like a complaint that was deliberately disguised.
There was something that furrowed behind his eyes, a sudden discomfort that arose from his stomach, creeping up to his chest, making him feel suffocated and yet wanting to move away without truly being able to move.
He leaned his body against the waiting room chair, allowing his back to sink into the rigid, cold plastic.
His head then lifted slowly, staring at the room's ceiling that was covered in the pale white light from the hospital lamps—lamps that gave sufficient lighting, but also made small shadows dance at the edge of his vision.
His gaze was gloomy, like someone who was reminiscing about a season that had been buried under the snow for too long.
"Hyung… is the only word in your head right now 'target'?"
"Even after the five of us fought desperately to break into the human entertainment industry, whose competition makes me sick, which demands us to always appear perfect?"
His voice was almost shapeless, as if it was only a murmur that was tossed in the air, appearing for a moment, then disappearing without a trace.
Sehan instantly glanced towards Oduun, as if it was a reflex that he didn't even have time to think about.
He leaned his back against the cold waiting room chair, allowing his body to slump slowly until his position was completely comfortable, or at least looked comfortable.
He folded both his arms across his chest, a defensive gesture that Oduun had actually seen often whenever Sehan felt overwhelmed but was reluctant to admit it. He crossed his legs too, kicking the air slightly before finally stopping in a steady position.
"I mean… what did you expect after all that, huh?"
This time, he leaned his head against the wall behind his back, allowing the cold surface to press against his skin as if he hoped the sensation could neutralize all the noise in his head.
Slowly, his eyelids closed, not just to rest, but as a last-ditch effort to shut out the outside world. As if by closing his eyes so tightly, he could force the shadow of the girl's face to fade, to vanish, to dissolve into the darkness behind his eyelids.
"Did you think that after we successfully registered as contestants for that survival program, we could immediately debut… have fun as idols with many fans, and forget our initial goal?"
He then opened both his eyes quickly, as if he had just woken up from a nightmare—or a dream that was too real.
His breath immediately came in gasps, unstable, as if his body was trying to catch up with something that was lost in the recent darkness.
The irony was that precisely when he closed his eyes, the shadow of the girl's face became clearer, closer, haunting his mind mercilessly. Every detail appeared repeatedly, forming an unending loop.
"Ugh… this is seriously making me crazy."
"Why does that girl's face keep popping up in my head?"
"Why is it so hard to get rid of her?"
"Don't tell me… am I starting to be attracted to her?"
He raised his hand, patting his head slowly. His movement looked like someone trying to dispel an illusion, or at least to push away the faint echo that kept resonating in his mind.
Oduun finally glanced towards Sehan.
He let out a faint breath, then stretched out his hand, placing his warm palm on Sehan's shoulder.
"Hyung."
His calling tone was hushed:
"I know you're very enthusiastic about talking about the 'target'. But don't forget, we've just managed to stand among humans without being suspected of being non-humans."
He shifted his body slightly closer.
"Hyung, did you forget how many humans are crazy about you? They did anything to make you debut."
"You should exploit that first, before thinking about our goal. At least, when the time comes and they fall into the trap, won't it be much easier to eliminate them?"
This time he leaned in, pressing his mouth close to Sehan's ear.
"And about that girl… do you think you're the only one who almost lost control when seeing her?"
"I myself nearly ran out of breath when I saw her sitting on the asphalt with bloody knees. Not because of the dripping blood… but because of the way she was looking at us. There's something strange about her eyes. As if I had seen that gaze before… but I don't know where."
He pulled his body back to the chair's backrest.
"If we intend to exempt her from the target list, shouldn't we check her first? If there's no problem, we can let her go. However… even if we let her go, I'm starting to think… maybe we shouldn't do that."
"We could… play with her for a while. That way, we might be able to understand this strange feeling that has appeared in us since seeing her."
He turned back towards Sehan.
"What do you think, Hyung?"
Sehan stopped his hand movement instantly.
He turned, locked his gaze on Oduun, then raised one of his eyebrows.
"Are you really serious about saying that?"
"Don't you feel you have too many reasons? Delay is not part of my life's dictionary—especially after seeing how humans treat us as if we are just useless junk. They regard us as small, weak, and defenseless creatures."
"But what they don't know… is that small creatures like us also have feelings."
His tone rose slightly; there was a faint but clear note of annoyance evident from the furrow on his forehead and his two interlocked eyebrows. Even so, he still tried to keep his voice soft.
He shifted his gaze to a random direction, staring blankly at points unknown in the room.
"But…"
He paused, his lips closed for a moment before continuing,
"Maybe there's no harm in having fun first, right? Let's just consider this a small reward after the whole tough process of debuting as idols."
"Having fun with that girl? I'm not sure if that's the right idea. Even so, somehow I want to try it. I want to… understand that girl more."
His murmur sounded hesitant at first, like a voice that escaped his lips but he hadn't truly convinced himself of yet.
However, for some reason, his inner heart nodded in silence, as if giving approval to those words, even though his mind was still filled with confusion.
A thin smile appeared on Oduun's lips.
There was a gleam of amusement dancing in his eyes when he heard Sehan's words. With a movement that felt familiar, his large arm reached out and circled Sehan's shoulder, pulling Sehan's body closer.
"Right, isn't it?"
His tone now sounded more cheerful.
"From now on, include the word 'delay' in your dictionary, Hyung. Because what is delayed… might actually be the best way to facilitate a plan, right?"
He winked. In fact, his smile widened—showing off the signature charm that he always boasted about.
Meanwhile, Sehan, who was staring at Oduun's behavior with semi-boredom, only rolled his eyes slowly—the classic expression of someone who had encountered the same "drama" too often but could never truly escape it.
With a slow movement, Sehan started to pull himself back, creating space between his body and Oduun. Oduun's body was pushed to the side, not hard, but gently—just enough to establish boundaries.
"I'm starting to understand more… why you easily draw attention, Oduun."
Oduun only gave a short shrug.
"Who wouldn't fall in love with my handsome smile, right?"
"I even bet… if that girl sees it, she won't be able to resist falling in love with me either."
His words flowed casually, but in the deepest layer, there was a developing tone of self-confidence like a balloon that he deliberately inflated too big—exaggerated, annoying, yet endearing in its own way.
Since the conversation between Sehan and Oduun turned into a game of glances, subtle teasing, and an aura of familiarity that sometimes felt like a duel between two small fires, Bunhang had appeared to sit quietly—or at least that was how it looked from the outside.
In reality, his eyes moved swiftly, tracing the expression from one face to another with the meticulousness of a trained observer, like a firefly trapped but never stopping its attempt to track the light outside the bottle.
Then, Bunhang's voice finally sounded.
"But, Hyung… don't you want to know… who that girl actually is?"
There was a natural innocence creeping along with his words.
His gaze widened and narrowed rapidly, as if he held a world full of curiosity behind that look—truly reminiscent of a tiny kitten discovering its own reflection.
He glanced towards Brian briefly, catching his manager's restless movements.
Brian was still pacing back and forth, his steps were fast but uncertain, as if every movement was an attempt to quell his anxiety.
"Why does Brian Hyung look so stressed? Even after finding out who he hit earlier, his face was paler than it is now."
"Hyung also heard, right, when Brian Hyung called the girl 'Miss Visclo'? Could it be… that girl is the only child, who is rumored to be the daughter of the ASpire Entertainment CEO?"
The way Bunhang asked genuinely looked natural; there was nothing strange at all on the surface. The words that escaped his lips sounded innocent, simple, like a curious child's question, who only wanted affirmation from the adults around him.
Oduun slung his arm over Bunhang's shoulder, pulling him slightly closer.
"You're curious too, aren't you, Bunhang?"
"However, you can save that curiosity for later. Because in the end… if we still don't know the truth, couldn't we force the truth to open for us?"
Oduun's wide smile suddenly changed into a thin smirk, quickly drawing Bunhang's eyes, making his pupils narrow. There was a mixture of curiosity, slight apprehension, and attraction that arose unconsciously, as if the smile held a small secret that he could only try to guess.
"But… I want to know it now, Hyung."
"Hyung knows, right? If I get curious, no one can stop me… even if Hyung tries to hold me back."
He pouted, a small but expressive movement that made him look exactly like a little child who was sulking, holding back disappointment, or whining because his wish wasn't fulfilled immediately. His gaze stared at Oduun with a mixture of curiosity and slight annoyance.
"Hey, Bunhang."
Sehan leaned forward, patting the top of Bunhang's head with a touch as soft as a cotton swab. The movement resembled an older brother who was calming his younger sibling so that he wouldn't explode over a trivial matter.
"There's no need to be rash like that. We will find out who that girl is when the time is right, and we can't possibly ask Brian Hyung now, can we? Look… he is still trying to calm himself down."
Sehan pulled his hand back, then leaned his back against the chair. His gaze remained locked on Bunhang.
"And if your guess is correct… that she's the only child of the ASpire Entertainment CEO, doesn't that make it easier for us to approach her?"
"Don't you also want to approach her… and understand the feeling that is currently in your heart, Bunhang?"
A thin smile spread across Sehan's lips, gentle yet full of mystery. At a glance, the smile was able to soothe a restless heart, calm anxiety, and present an unexplainable sense of comfort.
However, to a more observant eye, that smile held its own secret. There was deception in the way Sehan lifted the corner of his lips—like someone holding back a story.
Bunhang's eyes, which had been blinking in confusion earlier, now shone brightly. He leaned his body forward.
"Of course… Bunhang wants to know!"
The tone was light, innocent, and so naive that it made anyone who heard it smile unconsciously.
Namsek, who had been sitting rigidly by Sehan's side, finally let out a breath.
His body remained in its original position, upright and ordered, both legs crossed neatly as if it was a habit that calmed himself. His gaze, which had previously been submerged in deep contemplation and erratic emotional ripples, slowly strengthened again.
Slowly, he turned his head.
His eyes fell on Gomsuk—and the sight made Namsek's blood flow, which had just stabilized, rush again.
Gomsuk looked like someone who had just walked out of a great storm, his body trembling, his breath gasping, as if the strong wind had just passed through every pore of his skin.
A pale color crept across his face. Beads of sweat emerged one by one on his temples, dripping slowly, like thin dew creeping on a glass surface on a damp morning.
Namsek lowered his gaze slightly, watching Gomsuk's two hands that were tightly clenching each other. His fingers were gripping strongly, like someone trying to hold the door so that panic wouldn't burst out.
"Gomsuk, are you alright?"
His flat voice immediately halted the conversation between Sehan, Oduun, and Bunhang, who were still busy teasing each other.
"Don't you want to say something about that girl?"
Namsek asked again, this time his tone rose slightly, but not enough to be heard by anyone except Gomsuk.
Gomsuk's ears were ringing; Namsek's voice, which was only audible to him, felt like it was piercing directly into his consciousness, as if setting off a subtle alarm that forced all his attention and thoughts to concentrate on one point.
Without turning his head, without searching for anyone's face, he allowed the words to break free from him:
"I... I know who that girl is..."
"I know... the reason why we feel like this, feel like we're seeing her."
"She... she was the one who took care of me... she was the one who took care of me back then... before finally..."
His words were interrupted at that very moment.