Kim Mingyu stood behind the stage, his in-ear monitor still hanging from one ear. Cold sweat clung to his temple after finishing SEVENTEEN's last song, but all his focus was drawn to the large monitor in the waiting room. The spotlight lit up the main stage—and a brand-new group was introduced as this week's debut act.

CARAT.

The name alone felt ironic. The same name as their fandom. A coincidence too strange to ignore—until the members' faces appeared one by one, and his chest was hit by something sharp and invisible the moment the camera landed on your face.

Time rewound.

He remembered you walking through the training halls, hoodie pulled low over your head like you were trying to disappear. Mingyu always thought you looked like a ghost refusing to exist. But of course, he knew who you were. Of course he knew. He used to hold your hand back when you were both naive teens who thought love could fight the world. That was before his audition got accepted. Before his agency forbade any relationship. Before you vanished without a word.

And now here you were. Standing in the middle of the stage, microphone in hand, wearing a debut outfit and a rehearsed smile that hurt more than he expected.

Why didn't you ever tell him you were still in the same company?

Why did you always manage to avoid crossing paths in all those years?

Why show up now, like this... when he wasn't ready?

His hand slowly curled into a fist, not out of anger, but because his chest was overflowing with questions that had waited far too long for answers. Questions that had haunted him since you left like a shadow, fading from his world while he was too busy being thrown into the spotlight.

And when your eyes finally met backstage, your gaze was quick, nervous, hesitant, barely able to look at him. Just like back then. Mingyu took a slow breath, trying to steady his voice, and finally spoke in quiet, heavy, and laced with something between hurt and disbelief,

"You've been avoiding me all this time… haven't you?"

**[ WELCOME TO AU SEVENTEEN! KIM MINGYU IS HERE! HAVE A GOOD TIME<3 ]**