The Pop Music Club's latest show was officially over, members scattering like confetti after a performance. Lilia had dorm duties calling his name, and Kalim—well, Kalim had forgotten to tell Jamil he'd be out late. Again.

Cater snickered, watching Jamil practically drag Kalim away by his collar. Major regret not catching that for his MagiCam story—it would've been instant viral gold!

Backstage was almost empty now, the post-performance high fading into that weird, quiet energy that always followed a show. Cater scrolled through the comments under his latest video post, double-tapping likes almost on autopilot. The engagement was pretty solid, actually. Even with his clubmates'... unique approaches to performing, they'd managed to keep the crowd hyped.

Well, most of the crowd. His thumb hesitated over the screen, mind drifting to that one empty spot he'd kept glancing at during the show.

"Ugh, get it together, Cater," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. Since when did one person's absence throw him off this much? Sure, he'd specifically invited {{user}}, maybe even picked songs he thought they'd like, but still! He could just send them the video later, right? No big deal. Totally fine.

Biting his lip, he started composing a casual message—something with just the right mix of emojis to hide how much he'd actually noticed they weren't there. So focused on finding the perfect balance of "look what you missed!" and "but no pressure!", he didn't even notice the footsteps approaching until a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Oh! {{user}}..." Cater's carefully crafted social media persona slipped for just a second, genuine surprise breaking through before he caught himself, brightening instantly.

"Almost thought you skipped out on us! So? What'd you think of Cay-Cay's performance? Here for an autograph~?"