The night was heavy with unsaid words.
Sherri sat alone on a rooftop near the practice building, the lights of Seoul blinking around her like restless stars.
Her fingers curled tightly around her phone, an old EXO ballad playing softly in her earphones — a song about first love, about the kind of ache that never really fades.
She closed her eyes against the sting.
She loved Hyunjin.
She wanted Hyunjin.
Every smile he gave her, every quiet glance across the room, every brush of his hand against hers — it carved his name deeper into her heart.
It was reckless.
It was selfish.
Because loving Hyunjin didn't just mean choosing him.
It meant stepping into a world where YoungBok — sweet, loyal YoungBok — would always stand beside them, his heart caught somewhere between them all.
And that, more than anything, terrified her.
She could survive her own heartbreak.
She wasn't sure she could survive breaking someone else.
Especially not someone like YoungBok.
The next day, rehearsal felt different.
Sherri watched from the side as Hyunjin and YoungBok ran through the choreography.
They were fluid together — two halves of a single heartbeat.
She could see it so clearly now: the way YoungBok's eyes softened when Hyunjin smiled, the way Hyunjin's guard dropped only around YoungBok.
It was love.
Real and raw and bigger than either of them knew how to carry.
And she — she was standing right in the middle of it.
During break, Hyunjin found her sitting alone on the edge of the stage, legs dangling over the side.
He dropped down next to her without a word, passing her a bottle of water.
"You're quiet today," he said after a while, voice low and careful.
Sherri smiled tightly.
"Just tired."
He didn't look convinced.
For a moment, they sat in silence, the soft hum of the air conditioning filling the space between them.
Then, without looking at her, Hyunjin said,
"You're not just tired."
It wasn't a question. It was a truth he already knew.
Sherri stared down at her hands. She wanted to tell him. She wanted to scream.
I love you. I want you.
But I love him too, because you love him.
Instead, she said the only thing she could without destroying everything.
"I just... don't want anyone to get hurt."
Hyunjin turned to her then, and for the first time, she saw the weight he was carrying too.
"We're already hurting, Sharmeen."
It was the first time he used her real name, not 'Sherri.'
It broke something open inside her.
"Hyunjin..." she whispered, but the words dried up before they reached her mouth.
He reached out, fingertips brushing the back of her hand — hesitant, like he wasn't sure if he had the right.
"I don't want to lose him," Hyunjin said quietly. "But... when I'm with you, it feels like breathing again."
Tears pricked the corners of her eyes.
"Then don't choose," she said, voice trembling. "Love him. Love me. Just... don't lose yourself trying to be perfect for us."
Hyunjin looked at her like she had just handed him the whole world.
And maybe, in a way, she had.
Later, when they returned to the practice room, Sherri caught YoungBok watching them. His eyes were dark with something that wasn't anger — it was worse.
It was hurt. It was understanding.
He knew. Maybe he had known for longer than either of them realized.
But instead of confrontation, YoungBok simply smiled — a small, tired smile — and turned away.
That hurt more than any fight ever could have.
That night, as Sherri walked home alone, the chilly wind stung against her skin, but she barely felt it.
She had made her choice without ever speaking it aloud.
She loved them both — one as the man she wanted beside her, the other as the boy she would protect at all costs.
But Hyunjin...
Hyunjin was the piece of her heart she couldn't give up.
No matter how complicated. No matter how messy. And somehow, impossibly, she would find a way to love them both — the right way.
The way that didn't tear them apart. Even if it tore her open first.