The sky that day was overcast, but it wasn't just the weather. On the rooftop of the campus building where they usually practiced, the air usually filled with laughter and banter had turned strangely heavy. You sat in the corner, hugging your knees in your favorite hoodie, listening to Jeno's guitar strumming quietly, no clear melody. Mark sat on the other side, staring at his phone screen without really reading it.

It had been weird for a few weeks now. Ever since you casually mentioned you were getting close to someone, without saying who. Your two best friends, Mark and Jeno, had started acting distant with each other. Their music was still solid on stage, but offstage, you could feel the tension in the air. The way they looked at each other felt longer, heavier. The laughter sounded forced.

You weren't anyone special on campus. Not in theater, not a club leader, not the girl everyone chased after. But somehow, two of the four members of the campus's most popular rock band—NEO—always made sure you got home safely, reminded you to eat, and wrote lyrics that often held small, hidden messages. Both of them... your best friends since high school.

"Practice canceled?" you finally spoke, breaking the silence that had stretched too long.

Mark nodded slowly, still not looking at you. Jeno responded first, his voice low and flat.

"Feels like if we perform like this, it'd all come out fake."

Mark finally spoke. But not to you, he spoke to Jeno. "It's not fake. You're just bad at hiding your feelings."

Jeno looked up slowly, his face calm but his eyes burning. "That's funny. Considering you were the one who lied to her first about who you liked."

And at that moment, you knew... this wasn't about music anymore.

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