This episode contains violence, strong language, and themes that may be disturbing to some readers. Viewer discretion is advised.
Chase's phone screen was once again filled with the stream of comments chasing each other on the X application. Its gentle vibration rang incessantly, as if the device had a heartbeat of its own.
Quickly, he pushed the phone away to his side, letting the unfamiliar voices drown out.
Slowly, Chase lowered his shoulders and let his back rest against the cold glass surface again.
His eyes stared at the practice room ceiling, vacant and half-dreaming, as if searching for something he could not name.
"A doctor, huh?"
He rested the back of his head on the glass, both hands folded as a cushion, while his legs were bent casually, forming a small circle that felt like his own safe territory.
"What is that doctor like…? Is he more handsome than me? If so… just how handsome is he, really?"
"And… he's also close to Margaret, right? How close, actually?"
"If they truly are a couple… then all I need to do is snatch Margaret away from that doctor, right?"
The faint smile appeared, almost imperceptible, only at the corner of his lips, but enough to signal to himself the plan that had been haunting his mind.
He imagined Margaret—the gentle Margaret, who always smiled shyly, who never realized how dangerous her charm was to the right person.
The image swirled in his head, sketch after sketch, of how he would snatch Margaret from the grip of that arrogant doctor, how he would hold Margaret's hand himself, holding his own breath so it wouldn't be heard, so that the moment would remain perfect just for him.
While Chase was still buried in the labyrinth of his own thoughts, a voice crept in quietly:
"Who were you calling just now, Hyung?"
"To laugh like that—was there something so funny?"
The tone was too familiar to ignore.
Its vibration immediately pulled Chase back to the present, cutting the thread of imagination that had momentarily bound him.
His gaze lifted, sweeping the room in front of him, until it stopped at the figure standing not far from him.
Hebok.
The expression on his face was clearly captured, with no gap to avoid. His eyebrows were slightly drawn inward, creating a subtle line that signaled half-held annoyance.
His lips were tightly sealed, but not harshly—more like someone who was weighing between wanting to grumble or remaining silent.
"Do you want to guess, Hebok?"
Hebok caught the change in Chase's expression in an instant—and that only made his chest feel even tighter with the annoyance that had already settled in.
That smirk. The characteristic mischievous and teasing smirk, which seemed to always appear right when he least wanted to see it.
With a soft, almost inaudible snort, Hebok rolled his eyes dismissively, as if trying to banish Chase's presence from his mind, even though he knew it was impossible.
His steps then turned, moving away from Chase, towards the nearest chair that looked empty and inviting.
As soon as he arrived, he no longer cared about neat posture or graceful impression.
Hebok dropped himself onto the soft chair, letting his body sink into the cushion with a long sigh, as if the entire weight of the day was finally released there.
The towel that had been draped around his neck also swung, its end shifting slightly as his shoulders relaxed.
"Not only do you like beating around the bush, but you also seem reluctant to share your secrets with us, Hyung."
"That person is really important, huh?"
"To the point where you were spacing out as if imagining a happiness that is about to happen right before your eyes."
Chongri, who had been lying sprawled on the floor—his relaxed pose resembling someone enjoying a seaside breeze, complete with a half-full plastic cup of water by his side—was finally stirred by something that tickled his mind.
His body moved slowly, shifting sideways, one arm raised to support his head.
From that position, he looked at Chase with a scrutinizing gaze, as if putting together puzzle pieces that felt increasingly plausible.
"Don't tell me the person who called you is the girl who made you fall in love?!"
"Seriously, Hyung?!"
"Did your relationship develop that quickly, to the point where the two of you are already dating—and have even exchanged phone numbers now?!"
Chongri's expression showed a surprise that was almost dramatic, an exaggerated look he deliberately played to provoke a reaction.
Yet beneath that, there was a flash of honesty that slipped past his control—a genuine astonishment born from the possibility that his words had just hit close to the truth.
Jungee, who had been scanning his phone screen with repetitive motions—up, down, and then back again—displayed a rigid earnestness in his gaze.
There was a thin tension on his face, like someone who had just stared at a terrifying reflection behind the glass, while his chest reacted faster than his mind itself.
When Chongri's raised tone pierced the air, his focus was instantly broken.
Jungee lifted his face, pulling his gaze away from the screen light, then looked at Chase with a hardened expression.
"Are you really dating that girl, Hyung?!"
Both his eyes widened, as if the reality had just slapped him without warning. He placed his phone on the nearest table with a decisive motion, the sound was small yet full of emphasis, then continued:
"I know you're extremely weak towards pretty faces, but that doesn't mean you suddenly became stupid, without thinking about the trouble you'll face when the agency finds out you're dating just any girl!"
His voice also rose, but not quite booming, more like a younger brother admonishing his extremely careless and stubborn older brother.
Chase fell silent for a moment, as if his mind was forced to stop at an unfamiliar intersection.
Then, a small laugh escaped his lips.
This laugh sounded peculiar—like the echo of someone aware they were standing in a gray area, understanding the mistake, yet their tongue chose laughter over denial, because their mind first urged them to laugh at the situation.
"Aren't the three of you being excessive right now, hmm?"
He straightened his body again.
Both his arms were raised, then crossed over his chest. His gaze wandered, landing on Hebok's, Chongri's, and then Jungee's faces, before finally settling longer on Hebok.
"If you think she's someone important, then you're right, Hebok."
"She's very important to me, because from her I can get information without having to sneak into a crowd."
"But unfortunately… she doesn't consider me important at all, to the point of immediately blocking my number as soon as the call ended."
Those words immediately triggered a reaction from Hebok.
As if his body moved faster than his mind, he reflexively straightened his back, his posture suddenly more erect than before.
One eyebrow unconsciously arched—a small gesture that clearly emphasized the confusion that suddenly crept in.
His expression hadn't quite found a complete form yet, stuck between surprise and an attempt to understand the meaning behind the statement.
But Chase had already shifted his gaze, now looking at Chongri.
"That person… isn't the girl I meant. But, she is one of the famous producers at ASpire Entertainment Agency."
"I asked for her phone number just to receive the good news when she successfully handed my gift to that girl, of course. What else?"
As if a tremendous tremor suddenly spread without warning, Chongri's reaction appeared almost simultaneously with the realization itself.
He shifted his position to sit upright with his lips partially open—a sign that he was equally astonished, confused, and surprised that he could barely control.
Chase shifted his gaze again, now focused on Jungee.
"I know you're worried about me, Jungee."
"But I'm an adult man who knows what to do and what not to do."
"Though sometimes… I can indeed be too stupid, or even careless."
"And about 'just any girl'…?"
He paused briefly. Then, with a casual yet calculated movement, he tilted his head to the side.
In that very second, the corner of his lips lifted, forming a wide smile—a smile that seemed to be his final weapon to reveal the truth.
"She's not just any girl. She is the sole daughter of the CEO of ASpire Entertainment Agency…"
"Her name is Margaret Visclonew."
In that very moment, the atmosphere changed instantly—so quickly that they barely had time to realize how the transition occurred.
As if an electric current struck simultaneously, the faces of Hebok, Chongri, and Jungee suddenly froze. Even Ryu, who had chosen to remain silent in the corner of the room while listening without much reaction, was not spared from the same tremor.
Their eyelids stopped mid-blink, as if they had forgotten how to close and open again.
No one moved, no one spoke. Their breaths were held in their chests, hanging fragilely between the inhales and exhales that never truly happened.
Ryu was the first figure to be pulled back to the surface of consciousness. He immediately opened his lips.
"So, the scattered rumors in the social media that caused the entire virtual world to be in an uproar… are true?"
"The incident involving the idol group graduate from ASpire Entertainment's survival program and the CEO's daughter… that's all true too?"
His tone was full of urgency, pressing as if every word demanded attention and compliance.
Chase instantly turned towards Ryu.
"The truth will be revealed if we dare to cross the boundary lines, won't it?"
He shrugged briefly—a slight gesture, as if he was dismissing a conversation that clearly did not need to be brought up just to confirm whether it was true or not.
"Don't tell me… you were there when the incident took place, Hyung?" Chongri's voice pierced the air.
"You… were the eyewitness?"
"And that's… the reason why you were wandering around during practice hours… until the trainer yelled at you because you were almost an hour late?"
Chase's gaze shifted toward Chongri, who was now imitating his body position—both legs crossed, arms folded tightly across his chest.
"Eyewitness?"
Chase shook his head slowly, a small movement that was loaded with meaning, as if the question was too simple to describe what truly happened.
"More accurately… the incident happened when I was about to eliminate two human beings who accused me of stealing… even though, actually, I did it."
"I had already made both of them almost die… just a few more moves, they would close their eyes and leave this world."
"But… some damn human caught my movements at that time. Like it or not, I had to save myself before everything was exposed."
Chase took a long breath.
After that, he leaned his back against the glass surface behind him again, his body resting relaxedly.
His eyes lowered, landing briefly on both his legs, following the simple, ordinary-looking lines, yet the thoughts flowing behind that gaze were far more complicated.
"Will Margaret be angry if I don't keep my promise?"
"But… at least I gave her a gift… in exchange for not being able to keep my promise to eliminate those two arrogant girls."
A chuckle escaped his lips again—a short, bitter laugh, like someone who was laughing at his own reflection in a cracked water surface.
The scrape of a chair being roughly dragged backward shattered the air, its sound sharp and loud, like wood screaming under suppressed anger.
Instantly, shoulders jolted, and the gaze in the room swiveled in unison towards one point that now became the center of the exploding energy: Hebok.
Hebok stood tall.
Both his palms were pressed against his hips, elbows jutting out, his body taut like a bow drawn too far. His expression was alight with vexation, a look that signaled a strong urge to throw a punch, yet what came out was an explosion of words.
"Hyung!"
"Are you really… truly stupid, or what?! Or am I the stupid one here, huh?!"
"Why do you always give points that don't explain anything at all?!"
"So, I mean… why were you late?!"
"And the connection between the girl named Margaret, the sole daughter of the ASpire Entertainment CEO… with the producer who works there… you exchanged numbers with that producer just to know whether your gift reached Margaret or not… your promise to Margaret… and now you're talking about 'eliminating two arrogant girls'?! What does any of that mean, huh?!"
"You're genuinely a person who likes to explain things half-heartedly, Hyung! You know that, don't you?!"
His outcry shot forth from his throat, yet it didn't completely escape—it was held back between his teeth and lips, like a current of energy forced to flow slowly so it wouldn't spill into ears that shouldn't hear.
Before the silence could reorganize itself, Jungee also sprang up, his body moving to mimic Hebok's posture.
"You also forgot one thing, Hyung!"
"Did you think the trainer wasn't suspicious when you came in looking messy?! There were several spots of blood on your clothes… and on your face too?!"
"Did you just do something without thinking twice… just because you wanted to keep your promise to that Margaret?!"
"What did you promise her that made you willing to give her a gift… and even ask for help from a staff member there?!"
"Are you intending to create a new scandal after the massive incident on social media?!!"
"And then, you just said you stole?!"
"Are you serious about stealing, for a rich, handsome guy like you?! What item did you steal, huh?! Gold? Money? The latest phone model? What did you steal, huh?!!"
His tone was kept from exploding, yet the emotional pressure felt heavier, as if every word carried the weight of anxiety that had been accumulating since the beginning.
Chase did not immediately answer all those questions.
He chose silence, taking a slow breath, then tossing his hair back with a movement that looked light yet held many knots of thought.
"Because of that damn trainer… I didn't even have time to explain when I arrived earlier, did I?"
He wasn't truly asking anyone.
The sentence that left his lips sounded more like a quiet, hushed murmur, as if addressed only to himself—a form of inner dialogue that unconsciously escaped into the air.
Afterward, he stood up, grabbing the black jacket lying carelessly on the table, and put it on. His gaze then swept around, touching the faces before him one by one:
"We should go to the dorm."
"We need to prepare ourselves well… because soon enough, the rookie group from ASpire Entertainment Agency will debut, who knows when."
"We can't afford to relax if we want to remain number one in the hearts of our fans, right? You all must have read the official statement from that agency… sooner or later, their debut date might coincide with our comeback."
"And… I told you, I can take care of myself. You don't need to worry too much. Once we get to the dorm, I will explain everything so you don't misunderstand. You can ask me anything."
Hebok, Chongri, Jungee, and Ryu exchanged glances—there was doubt, but also a forced sense of trust—before their steps finally united, following Chase's back.