Backstage smelled like sweat, hairspray, and smoke.
The roar of the arena still vibrated through the walls, but in the narrow corridor behind the stage, Monarch's breaths were loudest of all.
Jiwon leaned against the concrete wall, chest rising and falling like he'd just run through a battlefield. In some ways, he had.
Kai collapsed onto the nearest folding chair, still grinning, his hair plastered to his forehead. "Did you see their faces out there? We killed that stage."
EO dropped down beside him, too tired to laugh but buzzing with adrenaline. He pulled off his in-ears with shaking hands. "Killed it? We resurrected it. That was… that was insane."
Zayn hadn't sat down. He paced like a wolf in a cage, sweat dripping from his jawline. His voice was low but sharp. "It wasn't just the stage. That—whatever it was—" His gaze flicked to Jiwon. "That wasn't normal."
The hallway was still smeared with traces of black ash from the demon's brief appearance. Staff whispered nervously about faulty pyrotechnics. Security was doubled. No one had said the word "demon." No one dared.
But Monarch knew.
Min stood a little apart, hands wrapped around his water bottle, but he hadn't taken a sip. His eyes were distant, haunted. He could still feel the pull from the glass of the mirror in the dressing room, the faint echo of something watching.
"Hyung…" he said quietly, directing it to Jiwon. "It wasn't after the fans. It was after us."
Jiwon's jaw flexed. He pushed off the wall, walking to the middle of the room where the others had gathered. His voice was steady, but his eyes were colder than the ice packs staff tried to hand him.
"They're testing us," he said. "They want to see if we're ready."
Kai finally stopped grinning. "Ready for what?"
Jiwon didn't answer right away. He looked down at the blade still hidden in his belt buckle, faintly warm from the fight. He thought of the way the demon had laughed before vanishing. Of the way it had whispered Yul's name.
And of the way Yul had kissed him not so long ago.
He shoved the thought down and forced his focus back to his brothers.
"For war," Jiwon said simply.
The room went quiet. Even the muffled crowd noise beyond the walls seemed to dim.
Zayn stopped pacing. His eyes locked on Jiwon's, unreadable, but in them there was a flicker of understanding. Of knowing.
EO swallowed hard. Kai's knee bounced. Min looked pale.
But none of them argued.
Because they had already felt it, too.
And for the first time since their debut, Monarch realized the stage wasn't the most dangerous place they could stand together.
It was everywhere else.