Idol of the Heavenly One - vanish into fiction

At that moment, Joo I-rip suddenly spoke.

“So that’s why you had no manners?”

I widened my eyes and turned to look at I-rip. The other members stared at him in shock as well. Baek Jae-heon stopped walking.

“If I were in that situation, I’d probably have grown up with antisocial personality disorder, yelling everywhere I went.”

But I-rip just smiled playfully, as if it didn’t matter, and went on.

“But you… somehow only turned out rude.”

After a short silence, Baek Jae-heon let out a faint laugh, then walked into his room without a word.

The tension that had threatened to thicken the air strangely eased with that. It wasn’t laughter, but the heavy atmosphere slowly began to dissolve. Our gazes met here and there, and though no one said anything, it somehow felt easier to breathe than it had just moments before.

The next morning before dawn, the air was still cool. The faint blur of streetlights brushing past the car window tickled my eyelids. It was the day of the year-end special for a music broadcast. Since our schedule started early in the morning, the members spoke less than usual, but there was a quiet excitement about meeting fans again after a long time.

The waiting room was crowded. Staff bustled about, and the members sprawled across the sofa, each finding their own spot. Some scrolled through their phones while others munched on snacks.

My eyes naturally found Baek Jae-heon. He was sitting close to Joo I-rip, who was watching a compilation of idol “ending poses” on his phone. Finding one particularly funny, I-rip asked Jae-heon, “Hey, want to try this one together?” The pose in question was something fans called an “otaku pose,” where one person made half a heart and the other gave a thumbs-up.

“Hey, Baek Jae-heon. Want to do this as our ending pose?”

“Can you handle it?”

“What?”

“Having our faces in the same shot.”

I-rip gave him a baffled look, and laughter erupted among the members. Since Jae-heon was usually quiet, his teasing lightened the mood immediately. Even I couldn’t help but smile. That small change felt oddly comforting, like he was finally blending into the group more naturally.

Feeling a little at ease, I went to the bathroom. On my way back down the hallway, I noticed something strange. At the end of the corridor, our manager was speaking with someone, his expression serious. When I looked closer, I saw it was a security company employee.

I walked closer without thinking.

“What’s going on?”

The manager turned sharply, eyes widening when he saw me. For a moment, he looked startled, then quickly avoided my gaze.

“It’s nothing. Go back inside and rest.”

The way he said it only made me more suspicious. I returned to the waiting room but didn’t fully close the door, leaving a small gap. Then I held my breath and listened.

‘Gray hoodie…’

“Ran away…”

The words hit my ears and made my heart pound violently. Gray hoodie. Ran away. My mind went blank. No way… was it that woman? Could it be her? I tried to listen for more, but with the noise in the hallway and inside the room, I couldn’t make out anything else.

My palms felt cold. When the conversation seemed to end, I quietly shut the door and sat down on the sofa. The others were still chatting and laughing. I could still picture Baek Jae-heon smiling just a while ago, and that made the whole situation feel unreal. Things had just started to feel peaceful again… why did it feel like something ominous was following us?

The heavy feeling stayed with me all day. Even while standing on stage, even as the fans cheered, I couldn’t shake the chill crawling up my back.

When the long day finally ended and we returned to the dorm, I instinctively scanned the area as we passed through the apartment complex entrance. And at that moment, something caught my eye at the edge of my vision.

A gray hoodie.

Someone was hurriedly hiding between parked cars in the distance. I stopped in my tracks. My heart pounded so fast it hurt. I saw it. I was sure I saw it. But at the same time, I couldn’t be certain.

“Hyung, what are you doing? Aren’t you coming in?”

Next to me, Kwon Ji-hak tapped my shoulder, his face clueless. My throat went dry.

“…Yeah. Let’s go.”

I shook my head and walked toward the entrance. Even as the door closed behind me, the image of that gray hoodie lingered before my eyes. Was it really her? Could it really have been that woman?