Chapter 66 — The Moment the World Didn't See
7:03 PM
Seoul was draped in the indigo silk of early evening. A soft fog clung to the windows of the AUREUS dorm, and the live broadcast had entered its 13th hour.
Fans were still watching.
The group had cooked together, played games, answered fan questions, and even shared childhood stories. The energy on screen was warm—brotherly. The kind of closeness only seven years and countless struggles could forge.
Jaeheon was quiet, but no one questioned it. He always was.
He hadn't played again. Hadn't said a word out of the ordinary. But his silence was no longer just his default—it had changed.
There was something waiting beneath it.
Manager Lee Noticed First
It happened while the others were playing a group charades game in the living room. Laughter filled the apartment. Minjae was losing terribly. Hyunjae was yelling exaggerated clues. Sungchan and Rin had turned the sofa into a cheering platform.
In the corner, Jaeheon stood by the window again.
Phone in hand.
Just like he had that morning.
But this time…
He didn't open the chat.
He was already staring at the screen.
And His Expression Changed
Manager Lee had walked in to grab paperwork. Just routine.
But he froze.
Jaeheon wasn't moving.
Not like someone stuck in thought—but like someone who had been struck by something he couldn't process.
His thumb hovered over the screen.
And there it was.
A single line of text.
One that hadn't been there before.
No Notification Sound
Jaeheon had muted that thread months ago. It never pinged. Never blinked. Never called attention to itself.
Because she never replied.
Until now.
It had come in silent.
But he saw it. And that was all it took.
The Camera Didn't Catch It
The broadcast showed Sungchan trying to act out "mermaid" and falling over the coffee table.
The fans laughed.
The comments flooded in.
But no one noticed that, in the background, Jaeheon's back stiffened for half a second—so slight, so brief—that it barely qualified as a reaction.
Then…
He slowly locked his phone.
Slipped it into his pocket.
And walked back to the group.
Sat down.
Laughed quietly when Rin yelled at Minjae for misreading a word.
But It Was Different
Not to the fans. Not to the members.
Even the director watching from the control room didn't catch it.
But Manager Lee did.
He didn't ask.
He wouldn't dare.
He simply noted it:
For the first time in six months, Jaeheon didn't look like he was waiting anymore.
He looked like someone who had received something… and buried it so deeply it would never surface again.
The World Would Never Know
There would be no screenshot.
No clue.
No smile out of place.
No name.
No trace.
Just a 48-hour broadcast, during which nothing special seemed to happen.
Except it did.
At 7:03 PM, the woman he loved finally replied.
And only he knew it.