Episode1

Seo Rin stood in the middle of a blinding stage, light glittering off the golden confetti swirling around him.

The crowd chanted his name—

> “Seo Rin! Seo Rin!”

But all he could see was the man walking toward him through the haze of lights.

Jung Haneul.

The name alone made Seo Rin’s heart ache. The idol whose voice had reached even his tiny fishing village, whose every lyric had carried him through nights of hunger and loneliness, was now smiling at him.

> “You finally caught up to me,” Haneul said, voice low and warm. “I told you… one day you’d shine beside me.”

Seo Rin’s throat tightened.

“Hyung… I—”

Haneul stepped closer, his hand trembling slightly as he held out a silver ring.

> “Seo Rin,” he whispered, “will you be mine?”

The stadium erupted in gasps. Seo Rin’s heart pounded—

> “I—”

“Yah, Seo Rin! Wake up, idiot!”

A pillow smacked him square in the face. Seo Rin jolted upright, hair sticking in every direction, the golden lights replaced by the dim dorm ceiling fan creaking above him.

“Minjae-hyung…” he groaned, rubbing his face.

“Don’t tell me,” Minjae said, arms crossed, “you were dreaming about Jung Haneul again?”

From the top bunk, Haru burst out laughing. “Our maknae-at-heart is in love with his idol again!”

Seo Rin buried his red face in his blanket. “It’s not like that!”

VOLT, the rookie group that had debuted three months ago, was loud and chaotic even at sunrise. Their small dorm barely fit their luggage, much less five grown boys and their dreams.

VOLT Members:

Minjae (24) — Leader & rapper. Loud, responsible, constantly scolding everyone.

Daon (23) — Main vocalist. Gentle, the group’s peacemaker.

Haru (22) — Lead dancer, the mood-maker who can’t sit still.

Jisoo (19) — Maknae & visual. Mischievous, always teasing.

Seo Rin (21) — Main dancer & sub-vocalist. The dreamer from the countryside.

Daon chuckled as he brushed his teeth at the sink. “You were smiling in your sleep, Rin-ah. Let me guess, he proposed again?”

A muffled groan came from under the blanket. “You guys are the worst.”

Minjae tossed him a towel. “We’ve got practice in an hour. Save your fantasies for later. Maybe if you dance hard enough, your Haneul-sunbaenim will notice you one day.”

The teasing only made Seo Rin’s cheeks hotter. But deep inside, his heart beat with a stubborn hope.

He wasn’t in this industry just to meet Haneul… but Haneul was the reason he’d believed he could belong here at all.

Growing up in a small coastal town, Seo Rin had worked at his uncle’s store by day and danced behind the docks at night, copying ECLIPSE choreography from old performance clips on a cracked phone. Every move, every lyric, every stage of Jung Haneul’s was carved into his memory.

And now, VOLT had finally been invited to their first joint music show next week.

One of the headliners? ECLIPSE.

For the first time, Seo Rin would share the same roof as the man who’d changed his life.

He just didn’t know that dreams and reality rarely shine the same way under the spotlight.

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✨ Across Seoul — ECLIPSE Dorm

In contrast, ECLIPSE’s penthouse was silent except for the faint hum of the espresso machine.

Jung Haneul, 25, sat by the window, scrolling through rehearsal notes while the dawn light painted the skyline. He looked every bit the idol the world adored—elegant, poised, untouchable.

ECLIPSE Members:

Haneul — Main vocalist, center of attention, cold yet magnetic.

Taekwon (26) — Leader, strategist, keeps everyone disciplined.

Eunwoo (25) — Lead dancer, Haneul’s closest friend and roommate.

Rian (24) — Rapper, playful troublemaker of the group.

Suh Min (23) — Maknae, pure-hearted and talkative.

“You’re up early again,” Eunwoo said, yawning as he stepped into the kitchen. “You even sleep in a suit these days?”

Haneul ignored the jab, sipping his coffee. “We have a music show lineup meeting. I don’t like being late.”

Rian scrolled his phone on the couch. “Some new rookie groups are joining too. Let’s see… VOLT? Never heard of them.”

“Neither have I,” Haneul said, uninterested. To him, rookies came and went every season. They burned bright for a second, then disappeared.

Eunwoo raised an eyebrow. “Don’t sound so cold. You were a rookie once.”

“That was different,” Haneul replied simply. He didn’t add that back then, he’d fought tooth and nail for every chance—despite being the heir to a powerful family that had wanted him in business, not music.

He’d built his career from pure grit, learning that fame was just another form of loneliness with prettier lights.

Still, when Rian flicked a video toward him—a clip of a rookie dancer performing passionately on a small stage—Haneul’s eyes paused for half a second.

The boy’s movements were raw but honest, every turn filled with hunger.

“Who’s that?” Suh Min asked. “The main dancer from VOLT, I think?”

Haneul didn’t reply. He pushed the phone back and stood. “Get ready. The manager will be here in ten.”

He didn’t care about rookies. Not really.

And yet, for a reason he couldn’t name, the image of that boy’s desperate, shining eyes stayed in his mind longer than it should have.

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