The dim glow of the event hall cascaded over a sea of flashing cameras and murmuring voices. She stood near the edge of the stage, her black gown shimmering like ink under the artificial lights, casting a magnetic aura that pulled every gaze toward her. Bangchan caught sight of her from across the room, his heart skipping a beat as if it were suddenly in sync with the heavy bass still echoing in his ears from their performance.

The air was thick with the scent of expensive perfume and anticipation. He tightened his grip on the water bottle in his hand, feeling the condensation trickle down his fingers. His thoughts drifted to Railways, the song that had been eating away at him since its creation. Every lyric felt tied to her now. He didn’t know her—not really. But there was something in the way her voice carried through the monitors earlier, the raw edge of longing in her lyrics from Blind Eyes Red. It mirrored his own hidden verses like parallel lines on the same track.

Bangchan leaned against a pillar, his eyes tracing her movements. The way she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, how her lips curved slightly as she exchanged polite nods with another idol—he felt as if he were watching the beginning of a story he wasn’t meant to interrupt.

The noise around him dimmed, replaced by the rhythmic hum of imagined train tracks. His chest tightened, a foreign ache blooming there. She turned slightly, their eyes meeting for the briefest second, and it was as if the world shifted.