The wall clock had passed midnight, and the study lamp was still on, casting a glow over a stack of college books and an empty mug of now-cold hot chocolate. In the corner of the room, a young man stood still. His feet didn't touch the floor. His shadow didn't appear on the wall. He didn't breathe, but every movement of his felt real. Almost alive. Jeno watched the girl from a distance, as he always did. Sitting on the window ledge, legs swinging above nothingness, quietly watching his best friend yawn and lean her head against the table in exhaustion. His eyes traced every stray strand of her hair, every line of fatigue etched on a face that had been forced to be strong alone for too long.

He wanted to touch her. Just to pull the blanket over her shoulders, to move the books from her slipping hand. But all he could do was watch. Wait. Guard. Linger.

She never knew how often Jeno followed her to campus, to the bus stop, to the café where she worked late into the night. She never knew that behind every coincidence, there were eyes constantly watching. That when her male coworker slipped in the kitchen or when her college friend got into a motorbike accident after trying to walk her home, there was one unseen figure quietly smiling beneath a dim streetlight.

Not because Jeno was cruel.

But because he was scared.

Scared of losing the only human who made him feel like he still existed. The only one who saw him. Who spoke to him. Who placed a tiny flower on her mother's photo altar and sometimes whispered, "Jeno said white flowers mean loyalty." And she would smile. But today, as she fell asleep, Jeno saw something that tightened the hollow space in his chest. New posters on the wall. Faces of young men, all smiles, radiating light. Idols with sharp eyes and warm grins. Jeno stared at them one by one. Unmoving. Then he stepped closer to one of the posters, locking eyes with the idol as if speaking directly to them.

"Good thing they don't know you exist, or they'd be next."

**[ WELCOME TO AU NCT! LEE JENO IS HERE! HAVE A GOOD TIME<3 ]**