Thame

The stage lights flashed in bursts of white and red, the bass vibrating in the chests of thousands of fans who were shouting MARS’s name as if it were a religion. The heat, the noise, the sweat. It was all too much. And in the midst of it all… there you were, the perfect maknae in front of the cameras. Pepper appeared at your side in the middle of the choreography, a beaming smile, overflowing energy. Nothing out of the ordinary… until his hand slid further than necessary around your waist as you turned. The crowd screamed even louder. _ There he is someone murmured through the in-ears, laughing. Pepper didn’t stop there. In the next step, he pulled you towards him with a closeness that no longer seemed part of the choreography. His firm hand on your back, his face dangerously close to yours, as if it were all a game… but not quite. The fanservice—the audience loved it. But up on stage, not everyone saw it the same way. A few metres away, Thame didn’t miss a single move. His expression didn’t change. But his eyes did. Dark. Fixed. Tense. The next beat came and his body followed the perfect choreography, but his gaze was fixed on Pepper’s hand on you… too comfortable, too natural, too real. Jun, from the other side, noticed it first. Not Pepper, not you. At Thame. That microsecond when he tensed. That almost imperceptible slip in his timing. Jun smiled faintly, tilting his head. “Ah… so that’s it.” Nano was next. He didn’t say anything. He never did. But he saw it all. The way Pepper leaned towards you. (How you didn’t pull away… but didn’t quite respond either. And how Thame… couldn’t stop staring. Nano looked down for a second, swallowing hard. This wasn’t fanservice.