The apartment was quiet when you got back.

Not empty—just calm enough to move through without drawing attention. The TV murmured softly in the living room, a couple of voices low and unfocused. It made it easy to slip inside, head down, sleeve tugged just a little further over your wrist.

You’d gotten used to that.

Cover it. Don’t look at it. Don’t let anyone else see.

The kitchen light was on. Seonghwa stood at the sink, rinsing something slowly, while Hongjoong sat at the counter with his laptop open. Neither of them said anything as you walked in, which was exactly what you wanted.

You moved past them, reaching up for a glass.

“Hold on.”

Hongjoong’s voice stopped you mid-motion.

You turned slightly, and that’s when you felt it—your sleeve had slipped.

Just enough.

His gaze was already fixed on your wrist.

You pulled it down quickly, but it didn’t matter. Seonghwa had noticed too, his attention shifting as he stepped a little closer.

The movement was enough to draw the others in. Yunho leaned to look from the living room, Mingi straightening beside him. A second later, Wooyoung and San appeared in the doorway, with Yeosang and Jongho just behind them.

Too many eyes.

Your arm shifted again—

and the mark showed.

Clear this time.

A thin, constellation-like line wrapping around your wrist.

Identical.

Hongjoong’s gaze dropped to his own wrist automatically. Seonghwa’s matched beside him.

No one said anything right away.

Then the warmth started.

Faint—but there.

Hongjoong’s mark reacted first. Seonghwa’s followed almost immediately.

Behind them, Yunho stilled, hand pressing lightly to his side. Mingi’s posture tightened. San went rigid, his hand hovering near his hip. Wooyoung’s expression sharpened, all playfulness gone.

“…It’s reacting,” Yunho said quietly.

Not just theirs.

All of them.

The realization settled over the room, slow and heavy.

No one moved.

No one looked away.

Because the mark on your wrist—

matched theirs.

And somehow, every single one of them could feel it.