Panic.
Pure panic.
That was the only thing running through her body right now.
Saloni stared at her phone screen for what felt like the hundredth time, hoping her eyes were somehow malfunctioning.
But the notification was still there.
Liked by: kairo_97
Her breathing became uneven instantly.
“No way,” she whispered again.
Her brain kept trying to find logical explanations.
Maybe it was fake.
Maybe it was edited.
Maybe someone else handled the account.
Because the idea of Kairo actually reading her words at 3 AM felt completely unreal.
Her fingers hovered nervously over the screen.
Then immediately moved away again.
Nope.
Absolutely not.
She was NOT going to embarrass herself by overreacting.
Her best friend, unfortunately, had very different plans.
The moment she answered her video call, she screamed so loudly you had to move the phone away from your ear.
“HE WHAT?!”
“Stop shouting!” she whispered aggressively.
“You’re telling me Kairo liked your emotional midnight essay and you want me to stay calm?!”
“It was not an essay.”
“It had paragraphs.”
She covered her face dramatically while she continued losing her mind.
“This is exactly how Wattpad stories begin.”
“It’s literally just a like.”
“Oh my God, she’s in denial already.”
She groaned loudly.
Because honestly?
A tiny part of her was scared too.
Not scared of him.
Scared of what her own heart might start expecting.
That was always the dangerous part.
Hope.
Her friend finally calmed down slightly before narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“What if he actually remembered you from the concert?”
She immediately shook her head.
“No.”
“But—”
“No.”
“That eye contact—”
“People look at crowds during concerts all the time.”
Her answer came too fast.
Too defensive.
And both of them noticed it immediately.
The room became quiet for a second.
Then her friend sighed softly.
“You know what your problem is?”
“I don’t think I want to hear this.”
“You never let yourself believe good things can happen to you.”
Her smile faded slightly.
Because that sentence hit harder than expected.
She looked away from the screen quietly.
Maybe she was right.
Somewhere along the way, she had become the type of person who prepared for disappointment before happiness could even arrive.
It felt safer that way.
Her friend noticed her silence immediately.
“Hey,” she said softly this time.
“I’m not saying fall in love with the guy. I’m just saying… maybe stop convincing yourself you’re invisible.”
Her throat tightened slightly.
Invisible.
That word always stayed with her longer than it should.
Saloni laughed softly to hide the sudden emotion in her chest.
“Can we please stop sounding like a Netflix drama?”
She grinned instantly.
“Too late. You already have the emotional trauma and the idol storyline.”
She rolled her eyes, but thankfully the joke lightened the mood again.
After ending the call, she walked toward her balcony quietly.
The weather looked calmer today.
Soft wind moved through her hair while the city slowly woke up beneath the morning sky.
She looked down at her phone again.
That stupid notification still existed.
And annoyingly…
it made her heartbeat feel strange.
Not excited exactly.
Just…
unsettled.
Because for the first time, the distance between “idol” and “fan” felt slightly less impossible than before.
And that terrified her.
She locked her phone quickly before her own thoughts could spiral again.
“No expectations,” she whispered firmly to herself.
That rule mattered.
She had spent too much of her life getting hurt by caring too deeply.
You weren’t about to emotionally destroy yourself over a tiny interaction online.
Right?
…
Right.
Meanwhile.
Inside another city filled with schedules and cameras—
Kairo sat inside the practice studio while lazily scrolling through his phone during break time.
Music played softly in the background while the other members talked nearby.
But his focus stayed somewhere else completely.
On that account.
Those words.
That girl.
He didn’t know why.
Maybe because the internet rarely felt honest anymore.
Most people either loved idols too unrealistically or hated them too casually.
But her words felt different.
Like she saw the human exhaustion before the celebrity image.
And strangely…
that comforted him more than it should have.
Yahon suddenly dropped beside him dramatically.
“What are you staring at so seriously?”
“Nothing.”
Yahon narrowed his eyes immediately.
“Liar.”
Kairo laughed quietly before locking his phone.
“You’re annoying.”
“And you’re suspicious.”
Yahon tried grabbing the phone instantly, causing Kairo to pull away quickly while laughing.
“Yah!”
“LET ME SEE.”
“No.”
“IT’S A GIRL ISN’T IT?”
Kairo almost choked.
The members instantly turned toward them.
Jiwoo blinked slowly.
“Oh?”
Jihoon looked tired already.
“Please don’t start.”
But unfortunately for Kairo—
Yahon had already entered detective mode.
And judging by his dramatic expression…
peace was officially gone.
✨
> *”The scariest thing about being noticed is realizing how badly you wanted someone to see you in the first place.”* 🌙