ᴘᴀʀᴀʟʟᴇʟ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛꜱ | 𝚈𝚊𝚗𝚐 𝙽𝚊𝚛𝚊

The One with The Unraveling Threads 💕

Her voice cracked, breath hitching as frustration surged forward. "We all promised to keep it a secret, Nathan. You don't see Jisoo showing up at my company like that. I was doing fine! I was... balancing things. You ruined everything!!"

Nathan was quiet for a moment, listening.

"Calm down, Nana and I'm really sorry for that. I was too excited to see you." he said softly. "But you were just being yourself. You were happy to see me too. There's nothing wrong with that."

She wiped angrily at her face with her sleeve. "The other starting to act weird with me. They're suddenly distant. And I can feel them pulling away. Like I betrayed them."

"Do you care about them that much?"

She hesitated. "I do. But I can't afford to lose myself or them right now. Not when I've worked so hard for this."

Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I didn't want to make anything complicated either."

What she didn't know was that down the hall-just around the bend-one of them had heard everything.

---

Two days later, the energy in the main rehearsal studio was electric-but not in the way it should've been.

It was the second-to-last run-through before the Rookie Showcase, and the full cast was gathered to rehearse their group closing performance. Yet no one could focus. The tension was so thick it clung to their lungs.

Doyoung, Yuta, Hansol, and Ten stood off to the side, watching like hawks. They'd seen the signs-felt the storm building all week. The distance. The exchanged glances. The words left unsaid.

And then, mid-run, it finally snapped.

It started when Jaehyun bumped into Johnny during the formation change. A mistake-possibly-but the moment their shoulders collided, Johnny turned, jaw tight.

"Watch it."

"I was watching it," Jaehyun fired back. "Maybe you should worry less about watching her and more about the actual steps."

The room froze.

Taeyong, who was moving into position behind them, stopped mid-step.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Johnny shot back.

"You know exactly what I mean," Jaehyun said, voice low. "You've been acting like she belongs to you."

"I've been looking out for her from the start," Johnny growled. "Something you clearly haven't figured out how to do."

"Oh, so now you're the only one who gets to protect her?" Jaehyun took a step forward. "You don't even know what she's going through. You're too busy playing the loyal knight."

"Enough," Taeyong cut in sharply, stepping between them. His voice was cold, sharper than anyone had heard in weeks.

But Jaehyun's anger was white-hot. "You don't get to act above this, 형. You're no different. You've been quietly jealous since day one."

Taeyong's expression didn't change-but his fists clenched.

Across the room, Nara stood rooted in place, eyes wide.

"This isn't the time," Doyoung said firmly, stepping in with Hansol and Ten.

"No," Nara whispered. Then louder, sharper-"Stop it!"

Everyone turned toward her.

She shook her head, voice trembling. "I can't- I can't do this right now. We're supposed to be a team. I didn't want this."

Her voice broke. "You think it's easy? Being watched? Being judged? Being your friend and wondering if I'm just a distraction to all of you?"

Johnny opened his mouth, but she cut him off.

"I trusted you," she said, and the weight of those words landed heavy.

Without another word, she turned and left the room.

---

For a moment, no one moved.

Then-

"I'll go," Yuta said quietly, already grabbing his jacket as he took off after her.

The others stood frozen-ashamed, furious, confused.

And at the very back of the room, leaning against the mirrored wall, Nathan watched everything unfold.

He hadn't said a word.

But his eyes were filled with something sharp and unyielding now-not just the protectiveness of a brother, but the clarity of someone who had seen this exact industry eat people alive from the inside out.

He looked at the boys still standing in the middle of the shattered rehearsal-Johnny, Jaehyun, Taeyong.

And for the first time since he arrived, he wondered if they truly deserved her at all.