He thought I didn't notice.
But how could I not?
The way he looked at me—like I was something worth looking at. Like he couldn't understand why I was there, in his world, but couldn't stop staring anyway. His eyes always softened when they met mine, like I wasn't just another face in the crowd.
I tell myself it's nothing.
Just… circumstance. We see each other often—same hallways, same backstage corners, same chaotic schedules. That's all.
But then I catch him watching me when he thinks I'm not looking, and my heart stumbles over itself like it doesn't know how to beat properly anymore.
I'm foolish.
I should know better.
He's Kim Sunghoon.
The nation's ice prince. The face of LoVersX, the most adored boy band in Korea. Perfect posture. Perfect hair. Perfect everything.
And me?
I'm just Jiwon. A quiet stylist tucked behind the cameras. A girl meant to be invisible.
Except sometimes… he sees me.
It's cruel, how the smallest things spark hope.
The way he lingers near me when there's no need to.
The way his smile changes around me—less polished, more real.
The way he watches, like he's trying not to.
And then, just as quickly, he pulls away. Builds his walls back up like they never cracked. And I'm left wondering if I imagined it all.
I keep trying to tell myself it's nothing. That it means nothing.
But the smallest pieces of him keep slipping through.
Like today.
I was fixing Jay's hair in the corner of the prep room, hands busy but thoughts miles away—drifting where they shouldn't, toward the one person I had no business thinking about. I pressed the flat iron a little too close to my hand, and—
"Ah!"
The sharp pain bit through my wrist as the hot metal grazed my skin.
I jerked back, clutching my hand instinctively.
Before I could even register the pain fully, I felt it—
A hand. Warm. Steady. Wrapping gently around my wrist.
"Jiwon, are you okay?"
Sunghoon's voice.
He was suddenly there beside me, closer than he should be, his eyes stormy with concern. The chaos of the room faded around us. All I could hear was his breath, just a little uneven.
I looked up, and everything in me froze.
He wasn't just checking if I was okay. He was looking at me like I mattered. Like he cared in a way he wasn't supposed to.
His fingers brushed against the edge of the burn, so gently it hurt more.
"You have to take care of yourself," he muttered. "You're always so careless."
His tone was sharp—almost annoyed—but his grip was careful, protective.
"I'm fine," I whispered, but my voice cracked.
He didn't move.
"Sunghoon…" I said again, softer.
And then—he did something unexpected. Something quiet. Something that would haunt me.
He reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
His fingers lingered.
"Be more careful," he murmured. "You're… important, Jiwon."
My breath caught.
And just like that, the moment broke.
He stepped back, putting that familiar distance between us again, as if nothing had happened. As if I didn't feel every beat of his heart in the space between his fingers and mine.
But I did.
And I knew—something had shifted.
He didn't say more. Neither did I.
But as the noise of the dressing room returned and Jay called out playfully for his turn again, I stood there frozen, holding a pain that wasn't from the burn.
Because now..
Now I didn't just wonder if he saw me.
Now I feared I'd never stop hoping he did.