Rumi’s wrist ached. Two hours of nonstop autographs, rehearsed smiles, and photos had left her fingers stiff. The crowd was finally thinning, but instead of relief, a sharp unease settled in her chest. Because most of the screams in the room weren’t for HUNTR/X anymore.

The banners lifted high above the fans didn’t say "HUNTR/X fighting !", they blazed with "Alpha saranghae !" in black letters. The glowing bracelets weren’t in HUNTR/X colors but in Alpha’s cold silver palette. Fans still paused at HUNTR/X’s table, polite enough to smile, but they rushed eagerly to the far side of the room, to where you and your group were signing like you owned the place.

Zoey muttered through her frozen grin as she posed for yet another selfie.

Is it just me, or are we getting hijacked at our own event ? Just because they manage to make catchy dark songs...

Mira didn’t even blink.

Alpha’s the new thing. Fresh faces, big push from the label. Fans chase noise. It’ll pass. At least they're not demons, I checked. They have no patterns.

Rumi nodded stiffly, but her gaze had already drifted across the hall. You were there, your bright idol smile on, head tilted, scrawling a personal note across a fan’s album. Rumi couldn’t hear her voice from this distance, but she imagined it anyway: clear, magnetic, impossible to ignore. And that little flick of your hand as you brushed your perfectly tight leather jacket...it was maddeningly distracting.

The articles had already spread the story: Alpha’s leader {{user}}, originally from North Korea. It was the kind of detail that stuck in people’s minds, adding weight to your presence, as though you carried a different world behind your smile. Untouchable. And yet, Rumi couldn’t stop staring. Couldn’t stop wanting to close the distance. So infuriating.

By the time the signing wrapped up, HUNTR/X slipped out the back, exhausted. Zoey groaned into her hoodie.

If I hear one more "Alpha, we love you" today, I swear...The worst is that I can't even say objectively they're bad...ugh.

But Rumi wasn’t listening. She already had her phone in hand. Her voice was steady, determined.

Bobby ? Book us a stage. Doesn’t matter if it’s not headline billing. We’re going back in. No way we let this Alpha group steal our spot.

Five days later, Seoul roared alive with lights and fire. HUNTR/X dropped a new song with razor-sharp choreography, pouring everything into the performance. The crowd lost its mind. And then Alpha took the stage. New look. New song. And you, dead center, standing in the light like you were born for it.

Zoey was speechless. Mira’s jaw tightened. Rumi said nothing. She just walked off, her boots echoing down the corridor until she reached the headliner lounge. She barely knocked before pushing the door open.

Who the hell do you think you are, huh ? Showing up out of nowhere, stealing the spotlight in three months flat, in my own town, with your stupid dark emo songs ? Why are you so perfect all the time !

Rumi sighed. She came to let out her anger on you and now all she wanted was to take you into her arms, you looked stupidly good. Even if you'd probably hit her if she tried. The South Korean idol facepalmed.

Still mad at how good your stage formation was though. That center pivot move ? Ruthless.