The music from the main hall thrummed against the glass doors, muffled by the chatter of a hundred excited voices. Inside, long serpentines of fans wrapped around the tables of the group members, phones held high, lanyards swinging, laughter echoing off the bright white walls.

You walked past them all. Your eyes locked onto the far end of the room.

There sat Lee Heeseung.

His table was quiet. No giggling clusters of friends waiting in line, no stack of albums piled high beside him, no flurry of staff members trying to rush people along. He sat with his hands resting on the edge of the white cloth, his shoulders slightly rounded. For a second, he was staring down at his own fingers, and his expression wasn't the bright, polished idol smile you saw on music shows. It was small, heavy, and tired.

He glanced up as a wave of laughter drifted over from the next desk. His eyes scanned the room, catching the sea of people ignoring his empty queue, before dropping back down.

Then you stepped out of the crowd.

You didn't hesitate. You walked straight down the open aisle toward his desk, holding your signed album tight against your chest.

Heeseung’s head snapped up. His eyes went wide, darting left and right behind you as if checking to see if you were actually walking toward him or just looking for the restroom. When you stopped right in front of his chair, the surprise on his face broke into something fragile and warm.

"Hi," you said softly, your voice cutting through the quiet space around his table.

He blinked, a small, disbelieving laugh escaping his lips as he looked up at you. "Hi... wait. Are you... for me?"

"Yes," you said, setting your album down on the desk. "Of course I'm for you. You're my favorite. Always have been."

The breath he let out sounded like a weight dropping off his shoulders. The slouch vanished, replaced by an immediate, glowing alertness. He reached out across the table, his fingers finding yours to pull you into a steady, grateful handshake before he flipped open the cover of your album to sign it.

"Really?" he asked softly, looking up through his lashes, his voice dropping into that familiar, earnest register. "Out of everyone... you picked me?"