In all his years as an entertainment reporter, he had never…ever been put in a spot like this.
The second scream ripped through the terminal like a siren, followed by a dozen more—high-pitched, frantic, and this time unmistakably male voices mixed with female ones. "Kael-oppa!"
"Kael! Look here!"
"It's really him!"
"KAEL!"
Alex's head snapped toward the sound just as the crowd he'd been watching exploded—not toward the arriving Lumineers girls, but straight toward him.
Phones shot up like armors, lightsticks flared to life in waves of crimson and black, and the mass of bodies surged in his direction with terrifying speed. The fans weren't here for Anne or the girls. They were here for the man standing over him.
The man they had called Kael!
For a split second, Kael's posture changed. The casual tilt of his head vanished; his shoulders tensed beneath the hoodie. Those luminous blue eyes flicked once to the oncoming mob—hundreds of them now, pushing past bewildered travelers, security guards already shouting into radios—and something dark and sharp flashed across his expression.
"Shibaaal( fuck)," he muttered, the first real word Alex had heard from him. His voice was deliciously low, almost swallowed by crowd scream, but it carried a weight that made Alex's skin prickle.
Then Kael moved.
His hand shot out, fingers closing around Alex's wrist in an iron grip…not particularly painful, but firm. "Run," he ordered, voice cutting through the noise like a blade.
Alex didn't have time to protest. Kael yanked him forward, pulling him into a sprint as the first wave of fans crashed into the spot where they'd been standing. Screams escalated behind them
"Kael! Wait!"
"Oppa, please!"—mixed with the thud of footsteps and the clatter of dropped bags.
They darted through the terminal, Karl taking the lead efficiently. He had no idea why he had dragged the small looking man with him but he had panicked.
Alex's throat burnt but his legs continued moving. He was used to this type of chase though he was always at the other side of it ... .not running with the damn celebrity.
Kael didn't slow until they reached a dead end: a heavy metal door with a keypad lock and a small sign that read MAINTENANCE ONLY. He released Alex's wrist at last, spinning to press his back against the door, chest rising and falling in controlled breaths. Alex stumbled to a stop beside him, lungs on fire, sweat stinging his eyes. He braced his hands on his knees, gulping air, every muscle screaming.
For a long moment the only sound was their breathing and the distant, fading roar of the crowd.
Then Alex straightened first, glaring at the man who had—without asking—turned him into an accomplice in a full-blown celebrity escape. "What… the hell… was that?" he managed between gasps.
He grabbed fistfuls of his own hair, frustration boiling over as the adrenaline crash hit. "My bag… my recorder, my laptop, my press badge—everything was in there!" He spun toward the direction they'd come, as if he could will the spilled contents back into existence. "Those fans probably trampled it, or some sasaeng's already live-streaming my ID photo to the entire internet. Great. Just fucking great."
Kael remained leaning against the metal door, arms loosely crossed now, watching Alex with that same unnerving calm. His breathing had already evened out—though his skin looked perfectly cool like the sprint had just been a leisurely stroll. The faint glow in his blue eyes seemed to dim slightly in the dim corridor light, but it was still there.
"I'll get it back," he waved off ,as if retrieving lost items from a fan mob was a simple errand.
Alex barked a humorless laugh, pacing the narrow space. "You'll get it back? You're the reason it's gone! How do you even have fans like that?". He shivered when he recalled their ferocity " They are fucking insane! And the pony it…" He stopped, jabbing a finger toward Kael. " I still don't know who in hell you are!"
" You should". The calm man replied, non challantly and with the most subtle movement ever, he flicked off the black nosemask that covered the half part of his face.
The dim corridor light hit the man's face and for the first time, Alex gasped, his breath caught in his throat.
He knew that face…
It was the same face that haunted the screen on every media platform you could ever think of on earth. His first clip was captured just last month and people went crazy for his out-of-the-world visuals .
He couldn't believe that the same man was standing before him! Right now!
His reporter brain finally boosted and questions flooded in faster than he could prioritize them " How? In a month, your popularity has flared out internationally with just a single video and an album. And you already have a large fan base that are even bigger than some well known celebrity…what is the secre….
" There you are, I was scared you had been kidnapped"...Yura , her voice sharp with relief that quickly edged into suspicion. She stepped fully into the corridor from the side door Alex hadn't even noticed, high heels clicking against the concrete. Mid-thirties, she was a very attractive woman with sharp eyes and a buzz haircut that made her look assertive.
Her gaze swept over Kael first, checking for damage, then landed on Alex like a spotlight. "And who might this be?" she asked again,
slower this time, folding her arms. Her tone was in no way polite and it shows how unpleasant she was about his presence there.
Kael straightened away from the door, sliding the mask back up over his nose in one smooth motion. "He was in the wrong place," he said simply, as if that explained everything. His tone carried no urgency.
Alex bristled. "Wrong place? You knocked me over and cost me my entire bag. I'm Alex Lee, X Media. I was here covering the Lumineers arrival when—"
Yura's eyes narrowed at the word media. She lifted a hand, cutting him off. "X Media. Got it." She turned to Kael, switching to rapid-fire manager mode. "Security's still combing the terminal. Half the internet thinks you've been kidnapped, the other half thinks you're dating someone because of the blurry shots of you grabbing a guy's hand. We need to move now."
Only then did she look back at Alex, assessing him like a potential landmine. "And you,Mr Lee, are coming with us."
Alex blinked. "Excuse me?"
"You're on every fan-cam now," Yura said, already pulling out her phone. "Face clear in at least three 4K clips. If we leave you here, by morning you'll have death threats, marriage proposals, and a fake dating scandal trending worldwide. Congratulations, you're collateral damage." Although her words mortified Alex , she continued tapping something on her screen, then gestured toward the open side door. "Car's in the private bay. We'll drop you wherever you need. After that, you forget what happened tonight. Understood?"
Alex opened his mouth to argue. He didn't like the tone she was using on him, but before he could talk, Kael beat him to it.
"He lost his bag" Kael said quietly, eyes on Yura. "Send someone to get it."
Yura's expression softened in his direction, the kind of involuntary fondness managers rarely showed in front of outsiders—then snapped back to business. " Ok, I'll send someone to get it" She turned to Alex again, voice cooler. "You want your laptop and press badge intact, you come with us. You want to stay and become tomorrow's headline, be my guest."
Alex weighed his options for exactly two seconds.
"Fine," he muttered, following Yura through the side door. "But I'm not signing anything. And I hope to get an interview".
Yura gave a short, dry laugh. "Of course you do."
Kael fell into step beside Alex as they headed toward the private elevator, silent again, but Alex could feel those blue eyes on him but he didn't bother meeting them.
The elevator doors slid open with a soft ding. As they stepped inside, Alex's phone buzzed in his pocket…a text from Lian:
Where the hell are you? Airport footage is blowing up. I knew you'll get in trouble but not this much.
Alex stared at the screen, stomach dropping. Was it that bad?
Yura glanced over his shoulder and smirked. "Welcome to the circus, Mr. Lee."
The doors closed, sealing them in.