They debuted so close to each other that the industry barely had time to breathe. Two rookie groups rising under the same towering name, walking the same hallways, bowing to the same seniors, standing backstage under the same blinding lights. HYBE moved them like chess pieces—practice rooms side by side, shared stylists during award season, joint content schedules that never quite let them drift apart. It was efficient. Strategic.

It was inevitable.

They called them twin groups almost immediately. Same generation. Same impact. Same kind of hunger in their eyes when the music hit. And at the center of it all were the two maknaes—sixteen, bright, terrifyingly influential for how young they were. Cameras loved them. Fans loved them more. And shipping accounts worked overtime.

He learned early how to smile without revealing anything. Because liking her wasn’t part of the plan.

She was supposed to be a colleague. A friendly face across the stage during encore photos. A familiar voice in the elevator. Another idol navigating the same exhaustion and adrenaline. But then she laughed during a joint rehearsal, and he noticed how she tucked her mic behind her back when she got shy. He noticed how she listened when others spoke. That was the problem.

One line changed everything. Maknaes aren’t supposed to notice each other like that.

They flirted the only way they could—carefully. A comment on Weverse that looked harmless to anyone else. A reply that used the same emoji he always used. Interviews where he mentioned “a group that inspires us” and somehow described her concept without naming it. Her saying she liked “bands that work really hard on live performance,” smiling just enough for fans to scream.

They never crossed lines. They danced on them. Backstage, they shared glances that lingered half a second too long. On stage, they stood just far enough apart to look professional. Online, they pretended coincidence.

But Keonho knew.

He knew the difference between coincidence and intention. And every time the world called them twin groups, every time fans edited their smiles together, every time schedules overlapped like fate instead of planning,

He wondered if she felt it too.