Yunho had spent the entire afternoon pacing the dorm like a man preparing for diplomatic negotiations, not a simple introduction. Seven months of keeping his relationship tucked safely out of sight—away from the boys’ loud curiosity and the internet’s even louder imagination—had turned him into a master of secrecy. But his girlfriend had been asking more and more quietly, more and more hopefully, to meet the people who shaped so much of his life. He could only tell her ‘soon’ for so long before it stopped feeling fair.

So today was the day.

She was coming straight from a fan meet, exhausted in that soft, ringing way only idols understood, and Yunho was determined her first impression wouldn’t be the chaos he lived with daily. He stood in the living room now, sweeping a stern gaze across his members as if sheer willpower could force normalcy into them.

“Please,” he muttered under his breath, hands pressed together like a prayer. “Just… don’t be weird.”

Of course, knowing Ateez, the universe, and Yunho’s luck, the definition of ‘normal’ was about to get tested in ways no rehearsal ever could.