The Practice Room

The Heaven Entertainment Building

11:47 PM

Ellisa's body had officially given up.

She felt it happen around 9 PM that familiar moment when exhaustion stopped being a feeling and became a physical weight pressing down on every bone. But 5 ANGELS had a year-end award performance in three days, and her solo fancam from last week had already hit 15 million views, and the pressure was immense, and she couldn't stop, couldn't rest, couldn't….just couldn't.

The practice room mirror reflected a girl she barely recognized. Hair tied in a messy bun with half of it escaped. Sweat-soaked t-shirt. Dark circles that concealer couldn't hide anymore. The same choreography, running on loop, because perfection wasn't optional when you were the center.

One more time.

She pressed play on the speaker.

The music started. She moved.

By the third chorus, her legs gave out.

She caught herself on her hands, knees hitting the wooden floor with a thud that would leave bruises tomorrow. Stayed there, breathing hard, forehead almost touching the ground.

Just a minute, she told herself. Just one minute, then get up, then go again.

Her eyes closed.

The music kept playing.

Min Jae didn't mean to end up on the 12th floor.

His driver was waiting downstairs. His penthouse apartment was twenty minutes away. His bed the expensive one he'd imported from Italy but barely slept in was calling his name.

But as he passed the elevator bank, he noticed a light on in Practice Room C.

At nearly midnight.

Staff knew better than to leave lights on overnight. Electricity costs were tracked, budgets were monitored, and Min Jae noticed everything.

He should have called security. Let them handle it.

Instead, he pressed the elevator button for 12.

The practice room door was glass. Frosted at the bottom, clear at the top. He could see movement inside no, not movement. A figure. On the floor.

His heart stopped for exactly one second before logic caught up.

She's practicing. She's fine. She's…

She wasn't moving.

He swiped his master keycard so fast the reader beeped in protest. The door swung open.

Music blasted out some pop song he didn't recognize, too loud, too repetitive. The mirror lights were on full brightness, making the whole room feel like a performance stage.

And in the middle of the floor, curled on her side like a exhausted child, was Ellisa.

Her chest rose and fell slowly. Asleep. Just asleep.

Min Jae stood in the doorway, hand still on the handle, heart hammering for no reason.

The song ended. Started again. Auto-loop.

She didn't stir.

He walked closer. The floor creaked under his shoes she didn't move. He stopped directly beside her, looking down at the youngest member of his biggest group, and felt something twist painfully in his chest.

Her face was smudged with sweat. Her eyelashes long, natural, no mascara fanned against cheeks flushed pink from exertion. One hand was tucked under her head like a pillow. The other rested limply on the floor, fingers slightly curled.

She'd kicked off her shoes at some point. Her socks had little cat faces on them.

Min Jae stared at those cat socks for longer than necessary.

Then he pulled out his phone and dialed his assistant Kang Jun-ho.His phone vibrated at 11:52 PM.He was half-asleep on his couch, watching a drama he didn't care about, when the message came through.

[CEO Min]: Practice Room C. 12th floor. Bring a blanket. Now.

Jun-ho was out the door in thirty seconds, still in his pajama pants, because when the Ice Prince asked for something at midnight, you moved.

He grabbed the spare blanket from the executive floor's nap room the good one, wool blend, usually reserved for VIP guests and sprinted to the elevator.

When he reached Practice Room C, he found his boss standing over a sleeping figure on the floor.

A very small, very blonde, very famous sleeping figure.

Jun-ho's brain short-circuited.

"Sir that's is that"

"The blanket."

"Right. Yes. Here."

He handed it over. Watched as Min Jae took the blanket and, with movements so gentle they seemed almost unreal, knelt down beside the sleeping girl.

Jun-ho had worked for Min Jae for three years. He'd seen his boss fire executives without blinking. Negotiate mergers with steel in his voice. Walk through rooms full of important people like he owned them because he did.

He had never, never seen Min Jae touch anyone with care.

But now, here, in the too-bright practice room with music still playing on loop, the Ice Prince was carefully draping a blanket over a sleeping idol's shoulders.

Tucking the edges under her chin.

Pausing for just a moment, hand hovering near her hair, before pulling back.

Jun-ho made a mental note to never speak of this to anyone.

"Wait outside," Min Jae said quietly.Jun-ho waited outside.Then he stopped the music….

That's what woke her. The sudden silence, louder than the noise had been. Her eyes fluttered open, brain struggling to remember where she was,Practice room. Floor. She'd fallen asleep. Oh no. Oh no. Manager Kang was going to…

She tried to sit up and realized something was on top of her.

A blanket. Soft. Warm. Not hers.

Her eyes focused.

And there, standing by the mirror with his back partially turned, was CEO Min.

He was adjusting something on his phone probably the music controls. The loop had stopped. He'd turned it off.

Ellisa's heart stopped.

She was on the floor. In sweaty clothes. With cat socks. And the CEO of The Heaven Entertainment, the richest man under thirty in the country, was in the room.

She scrambled up so fast the blanket fell off.

Her body screamed in protest tired muscles, stiff joints, the beginnings of bruises on her knees. She ignored all of it, bowing so low her forehead almost touched her knees.

"CEO Min! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to fall asleep, I was just resting for a minute, I'll leave right now, I'm so sorry for the inconvenience"

"Ellisa."

Her name. Just her name. Quiet, but somehow cutting through her panic spiral.

She stopped talking. Stayed bowed. Didn't dare look up.

"The blanket," he said. "You dropped it."

She glanced down. The nice blanket really nice, expensive-looking was pooled at her feet.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I" She grabbed it, held it out to him with both hands, still not meeting his eyes. "Here. Thank you. For for the blanket. You didn't have to. I'm really sorry you had to see me like this."

Silence.

She risked a glance up.

He was watching her with an expression she couldn't read. Not cold, exactly. Not warm either. Something in between. Something that made her stomach flip.

"You're still bowing," he observed.

She straightened immediately. Too fast. Her head spun.

He noticed. Of course he noticed. His eyes flickered to her face, taking in the dark circles, the pallor under her flush, the way she swayed slightly on her feet.

"When did you last eat?"

The question caught her off guard. "I lunch? I think? There was a smoothie sometime"

"Sit down."

"What?"

"Sit. Down." He gestured to the floor. "Before you fall down."

She wanted to argue. She was fine. She could stand. She was an idol, she was used to this, she didn't need…

Her legs chose that moment to remind her they'd given out once already tonight.

She sat.

Hard.

The blanket was still in her hands. She clutched it like a lifeline, staring up at him with wide eyes.

He didn't say anything. Just pulled out his phone again, typed something quickly, then pocketed it.

"Someone will bring food," he said. "Rice porridge. Easy on the stomach. You'll eat it before you leave."

"CEO Min, I really don't"

"That wasn't a suggestion."

She closed her mouth.

He should leave now. She knew he should leave. It was inappropriate for him to be here, alone with her, at this hour. If anyone found out if Dispatch ever got wind.

But he didn't leave.

Instead, he walked to the corner of the practice room, picked up her discarded water bottle, and brought it to her.

"Drink."

She drank.

The water was room temperature not cold, the way she usually liked it, but somehow perfect for her parched throat. She drained half the bottle before coming up for air.

He was still watching her.

"Why are you here?" The words came out before she could stop them. "I mean why are you here? At midnight? In a practice room?"

He considered the question longer than necessary.

"I saw the light," he said finally. "From downstairs."

"Oh." That made sense. He was responsible. He checked things. "Thank you. For checking. Most people wouldn't notice."

"I notice everything."

She believed him.

A knock on the door made them both turn. Assistant Kang Jun-ho entered carefully, carrying a steaming bowl and a pair of chopsticks, eyes fixed firmly on the floor as if he was trying very hard not to see anything.

"Porridge, sir. From the 24-hour place downstairs."

"Leave it."

Jun-ho set it down on the small table near the mirror and retreated faster than legally advisable.

Ellisa looked at the porridge. Looked at Min Jae. Looked back at the porridge.

"You really didn't have to"

"Eat."

She ate.

It was good. Really good. Warm and savory and exactly what her exhausted body needed. She tried not to make sounds of appreciation but failed completely on the third bite.

Min Jae's expression didn't change, but something in his posture relaxed slightly.

"You overwork yourself," he said while she ate.

She paused, chopsticks halfway to her mouth. "I have to. The performance"

"Will be fine whether you practice until midnight or not."

"You don't understand." She set the bowl down, suddenly frustrated. "The expectations my fancams, the views, the pressure if I'm not perfect, everyone notices. Everyone comments. I can't afford to be tired. I can't afford to slack off. I have to be"

"Human?"

The word stopped her cold.

He was looking at her with that unreadable expression again.

"You're allowed to be tired, Ellisa-ssi. You're allowed to sleep. You're allowed to eat ice cream at 3 AM and fall asleep in practice rooms and wear socks with cats on them."

Her cheeks burned. "The socks"

"Are fine." A pause. Almost imperceptible. "They suit you."

She had no idea what to say to that.

He stood. Straightened his jacket. Became the CEO again, distant and untouchable.

"Finish your food. Go back to the dorm. Sleep in an actual bed." He walked toward the door, then paused with his hand on the handle. "And Ellisa?"

"Yes?"

"If I find you sleeping on this floor again, I'll have the practice rooms locked after 10 PM."

Her eyes widened. "You wouldn't."

"Try me."

He left.

Ellisa sat alone in the practice room, blanket in her lap, half-eaten porridge growing cold, cat socks visible on her feet.

After a long moment, she smiled.

It was small. Uncertain. But real.

The Next Morning:

Manager Kang received an email at 7 AM.

[CEO Min Jae]: Effective immediately, Practice Rooms C, D, and E will auto-lock at 10 PM. Keycard access restricted to approved staff only after hours. Exceptions must be approved by me personally.

He stared at the email for a full minute.

Then he called the other managers.

"Has anyone noticed anything weird between the CEO and 5 ANGELS' maknae?"

Blank stares.

He decided to drop it.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that something had shifted.

Something no one was talking about.

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