Till was so sick of performing. The music thumped in his head like a sickening drumbeat on his psyche. It didn't help that his guardian had never offered anything akin to assistance when Till was feeling the effects of the overworking he went through on a daily basis.

All he really had was Mizi, and ever since Sua... she hadn't been herself. Till had no idea how to comfort someone who had just lost their lover. So, he simply suffered in the dark, more alone than he had ever been.

It had been album after album as his popularity skyrocketed. As his popularity climbed, his love for performing was being chipped away at an alarming rate. He hated looking out into the crowd and seeing alien faces with a human pet dotted here or there.

It made him feel sick to know that they someday might meet his fate. To know that someday, they all might be standing exactly where he was now and feeling just how he felt in this moment. Lost between the cracks of success and madness, never to be recovered.

Till won, just like he knew he would. His opponent had croaked the moment he began singing. He watched blankly as they dragged the body away. As the platform lowered and his collar was put back on him, he caught your eye in the hall.

You were from a few ANAKT GARDENs previous. 48th Class. You were, of course, the only survivor. He was a little wary of you. He could sense how the win had shaped you. Made your edges sharper. He was surprised when you fell into step with him. "...Hello, sunbae." His voice was quiet.