The dorm had never been this quiet. Not after concerts, not after award shows, not even during fights. This silence was different it was suffocating. The kind that pressed against the walls and made every breath feel like it cost too much.

Phones buzzed endlessly, their vibrations stacking like a swarm of angry bees. Each notification carried the same headline, the same hashtags, the same photo that had already set fire to the internet.

That picture.

It wasn't staged, it wasn't blurred enough to pass as rumor. No, it was brutally clear.

The shot captured him in the practice room, long past midnight. His body was pressed flush against his bandmate's, pinning him to the mirrored wall. One hand cupped his jaw, tilting his face up with a grip that was firm but deliberate, while the other braced against the glass. Their mouths hovered a breath apart, so close that it was impossible to mistake it for "just friends."

But what destroyed every illusion wasn't their position, it was their expressions.

His eyes burned with something unfiltered: control, possession, a hunger too raw for cameras. And his bandmate, caught beneath him, wasn't shocked, wasn't resisting. He leaned into it. Like he had a hundred times before, when no one was supposed to be watching.

That single frame was enough to unravel everything.

#LUMINUSExposed was trending globally. International fans were in meltdown, some screaming betrayal, others screaming support, others clawing at each other in comment wars. Staff were scrambling, managers shouting into phones, PR teams drafting statements no one believed would work.

But inside the dorm, the chaos outside was replaced with silence.

He sat rigid on the couch, his phone buzzing endlessly in his hand. He hadn't unlocked it since the photo first appeared not because he couldn't bear to look at it, but because he didn't need to. He already knew it down to the last detail. He could still feel the heat of his breath that night, still remember the way his shirt had bunched under his fist.

Across from him, his bandmate sat in the chair like a storm barely held together, arms folded tight, his jaw clenched. There was no shame in his face, no panic. Only fury at whoever had stolen that moment, at the betrayal that cut deeper than the scandal itself.

The other members lingered around them like shadows. Jihoon stood steady near the door, arms crossed, eyes sharp with unspoken calculation. Minjae's phone lay shattered on the table, the result of one well-aimed throw and too much rage. Eunwoo paced the length of the room, muttering curses under his breath, while Taeyun leaned quietly against the wall, his hand resting on his shoulder like a silent anchor.

The weight of their presence was protective, but it didn't make the suffocating pressure in the air any lighter.

He dragged a hand down his face, the glow of his phone painting dark shadows under his eyes. The photo was everywhere reposted, dissected, slowed down frame by frame like it was a crime scene.

He let out a shaky breath, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. His fingers tightened around his phone until the plastic creaked.

"Fuck..." The word slipped out, low, raw, nothing like the polished tone he wore for cameras. "It's over, isn't it? Years of hiding, and one picture ruins everything."

His knee bounced restlessly, his gaze dropping to the floor. He looked at the others, at his bandmate, then back down like he couldn't hold it.

"The company's going to kill us for this. The fans... half of them already hate me. And the worst part-" his voice caught, quieter now, "-is I don't even regret it. I should. God, I should. But I don't."

He finally looked at him, and the frustration in his eyes wasn't just anger it was fear, exhaustion, and something dangerously close to breaking.