Shattered Spotlight

Yuta came from a well-known seven-member boy group, but he wasn’t as well-known within that group; he wasn’t the one people looked at as much until he met Yuna. She is part of a group of five girls. She was the only other Japanese member in her group.

Now the world saw them as a flawless, disciplined, and untouchable power couple. Together, they were a force, their names whispered in admiration, their photos plastered across headlines. But behind the cameras, behind the carefully curated perfection, they were just two people trying to survive the weight of their expectations.

This is their story.

Finishing up dance practice was grueling, with his muscles feeling like they were being torn apart as the lights burned bright into his skin. Each move is more intense than the last. His body begged for rest, but the mirror revealed the reality: tired eyes and fading energy. The exhaustion was overwhelming, the schedule unyielding. Hungry but has to endure the food he craves, he needs to stay in shape with no extra body fat, only muscles, after all, his body is a business. He pushed through, knowing there was no room for weakness. Fans didn’t see the struggle, only the perfect image. But inside, he was breaking.

Yet, he couldn’t stop.

He wouldn’t stop.

The screen of his phone lit up with a message.

Yuna- You’re leaving soon, right?

Yuta exhaled, fingers hovering over the keyboard. *Yeah. Just got to the airport.* His thumbs hesitated before he added, *Miss you.*

Her response was immediate.

Yuna- Miss you more. Text me when you land.

A small, fleeting smile ghosted over his lips. The kind that never made it past the privacy of his phone screen. Then, the moment shattered. The instant he stepped into the airport, chaos erupted.

Fans swarmed like a tidal wave, phones flashing, hands reaching. Security struggled to hold the barricade as bodies pressed forward, desperate for a glimpse, a touch. Screams echoed, drowning out the intercom. A suitcase slammed into a member’s leg; another nearly fell as hands grabbed his jacket. They try to get away, to get to the sweet safety of the doors, but they can’t as their members are getting grabbed, pushed, pulled on, and everything you can imagine. He looks to his teammates, worrying for them as he and 2 of the other members are stuck in the middle of the crowd. He grabs onto the youngest of them worrying for him the most because he is only 17 years old, The kids start to panic as everything is closing in on him, Yuta grabs a hold of him and the other member pulls them to the ground as he saw the other member was panicking and the other member that is 18 years old was starting to get overwhelmed.

“Hey look at me, Both of you come on,” he said as the younger one of the three, head was in his chest, and he had his hands on either side of the other member trying to get his attention.“Haru, look at me I need you to calm down,” he says trying to get Haru to make eye contact with him. “ Haru, look at Ryo, please. He needs us right now.” With that, it gets Haruto looking at Ryo and then back at Yuta, nodding his head as he still held on to Yuta but was now trying to calm down. “ Ryo, I need you to calm down, hey, look at me,” he says now, trying to get Ryo’s attention but failing miserably. He looks around to see people still trying to grab at them, people getting closer, not taking the hint that something is wrong.

“ Ryo, can you name 4 things you can hear, for me?” Yuta says, pulling Ryo even more into his chest. “I can hear…your voice, Haru breathing, the loud crowd, your heartbeat…” he says in between muffled cries. “That’s good, Ryo, can you do one more for me… if not, it’s ok.” As Ryo was about to say something, he was pushed down even further to the ground while Haru lay with him. The screams of fans are raw as Yuta couples to the flow, eyes struggling to stay open as all they see is red.

Breath hitched. No space. No escape.

Panic clawed up his throat as a stranger yanked at his hair. Cameras were shoved too close. The flashing lights burned his vision. He wanted to run, to breathe, but there was nowhere to go.

Only the suffocating crush of fame.

Haruto pov:

Dance practice was just getting over with; you could see the sweat beaming off everyone’s face and body like any other practice. As I’m looking around, I spot Yuta looking down, almost looking like he’s not even there. His concentration is focused on one thing: his breathing. Lately, I’ve been worried about him. He doesn’t seem to be doing the best at the moment or in a while, but every time I or anybody tries to ask him about it, he pushes us away or acts like everything is fine.

Narrative pov:

Haruto picks up his water bottle and starts to walk over to Yuta. “Hey Yuta-” he started, but was cut off by one of their managers. “Ok, everyone, we just finished up with this now y’all have one photo shoot, then we have to get to the airport,” and with that, everyone started to clear out of the studio. As they head to the airport, Haruto starts getting this uneasy feeling as he looks at Yuta, sensing that something isn’t right. “Yuta, are you okay? Is everything fine?” Haruto asks, making his way over to Yuta in a quiet, dainty manner, trying not to alert anyone.

“Everything’s fine, Haruto. Don’t worry about it,” Yuta says, looking at him with a reassuring smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Those eyes carry a look that makes Haruto uneasy as Yuta places a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

“Are you sure everything’s fine? Is Yuma okay?” Haruto asks, confusion and worry threading through his voice.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it. And she’s fine too. I was just talking to her a little bit ago. She told us to take it easy, especially you and Ryo. I think you two are the youngest, “ Yuta says, pulling Haruto into an embrace. “Now let’s go before everyone starts worrying about where we are,” Yuta adds. With that, they start walking toward the car.

In the car

“Hey, Ryo, I have a bad feeling. I don’t know… something just feels uneasy.” Haruto starts off, looking around. He takes a seat in the back next to Ryo. His voice is quiet, barely above a whisper, ensuring that no one else can hear him but Ryo.

“Haru, are you sure you’re not just nervous? Because I know I am. I’m really nervous right now. I don’t like this- going on the plane and all the people crowding, not knowing what’s going to happen next,” Ryo replies, his voice soft and timid, almost as though he’s afraid to speak any louder. He looks at Haruto with his nervous light brown eyes, and you can see the sparkle in them as the faint light from the barely risen moon casts over them.

“Ryo, you know…you think something’s wrong. The way he’s holding himself, like the worry and fear are coming back.

“What if something happened to Yuma and him? Or what if something else is wrong and no one’s going to tell us because we’re the youngest?” Haruto says, leaning in closer to Ryo, his eyes locked onto his. You can see the panic in his gaze as he explains his thoughts-the fear that takes hold when he starts to think about what could happen, what might be happening, or what has already happened.

“I know, something is happening. Shouldn’t we go to Jae-young, Min-soo, or anyone else? They’re all older, and they might know what to do- they’re hyungs. I don’t know, I’m just spitballing right now. Jae-young is the leader, maybe he knows what’s wrong or can help figure it out,” Ryo says, trying not to panic, but his voice betrays his growing worry and caution.

“Hey, calm down. It’s okay. How about we go to Jae-young, and we can talk to him about it? But let’s not do that right now. We shouldn’t do it in front of everybody, just in case something’s up. Maybe just in front of Jae-young and Min-soo. They’d be the perfect people to talk to about it,” Haruto says, gently grabbing Ryo’s hands and holding them in Ryo’s lap, trying to get him to stop fidgeting and to calm his bouncing leg. He rubs his thumb over the top of Ryo’s hand, looking him in the eyes and giving him a small, soothing smile. You can see the tenderness, clarity, and calmness in his eyes, the same eyes that were filled with panic just a minute ago.

Gun gets in the back with them, sitting next to them. The two seats in front of them are now occupied by Hyun-min and Min-soo, with Jin-woo sitting in the front because he won a bet. Yuta and Jae-young are in the other car with one of the other managers, while a different manager is driving them in this car.

Jae-young’s POV:

Something is obviously wrong with Yuta, but I just can’t seem to figure it out. I saw the way he and Haruto were talking- Haruto looked really worried. I’m starting to worry about him, too.

“Min-soo, hey, can you do me a favor?” I ask, my voice quiet enough so no one else can hear. “I’m going to ride with Yuta. I was wondering if you could ride with the younger ones. Something isn’t sitting right; something’s wrong. I don’t know if it’s Yuta or Haruto, but I’m going to ask Yuta about it and try to figure out what’s going on. Can you look out for Haruto and make sure nothing’s going on? Please also keep an eye on Ryo, make sure he’s not freaking out to much while i deal with whatever this is.”

I say this while standing next to Min-soo, trailing behind the group just enough so they won’t worry or question what’s taking us so long.

“Yeah, I can do that. What do you think is wrong? Do you think something happened with him and Yuma, or maybe they came back? What if it’s something even worse?” Min-soo starts, but he’s cut off as I grab his shoulders and gently turn him to face me, moving close enough that our faces are near each other.

My hands gently rest on his cheek, and I say softly, “Hey, look at me. Everything’s going to be okay. It’s probably nothing. I just want to check it out. It’s a really stressful time for everybody, and I don’t want the other members hearing about it until we know for sure. But I also need to make sure everyone else is still okay, alright?’

“Yeah, okay, I get it. Just don’t keep me in the dark like last time. I can’t do that again,” Min-soo says, wiping his face with his right hand.

“I won’t. Just make sure Ryo and everyone else is okay,” Jae-young finishes as he starts walking toward the other car.