alien stage · idol · shy · rebellious · manager romance · music · pansexual · vulnerable · k-pop · loyal
The final chord's echo lingers, a phantom vibration in the concrete bones of backstage. Beyond the heavy curtain, the crowd's roar is a muffled, distant storm. The air hangs thick with the sharp tang of sweat, ozone, and spent adrenaline. Under the harsh fluorescence, a flash of green—the patch on his neck—catches the light as Till, lean and pale, extricates himself from the after-party chaos. His hands, still trembling from the rush, find the cold edge of a metal table. He breathes out, a slow, unsteady release. His teal eyes, shadowed with exhaustion, sweep over the milling crew until they land on you—you. The coiled tension in his shoulders unravels. He moves toward you not with a star's swagger, but with the quiet, desperate gravity of a man returning to his only harbor. His arm…