The Voice Message

Kole isn't trying to snoop.

He's just trying to find the charger in Jackson's chaotic dressing room-half-full water bottles, a crumpled hoodie, yesterday's coffee cup still warm. The kind of disarray only someone moving too fast can leave behind.

Jackson's phone buzzes on the table.

Kole doesn't mean to glance at it.

But it lights up with a notification:"Voice memo sent to: Manager Han."And then-like fate has a cruel sense of humor-the phone accidentally plays.

The audio crackles to life.

> "Look, I know this isn't what you signed up for. I get it. But I need to say this out loud to someone before I lose my mind."

It's Jackson's voice.

Unfiltered. Exhausted. No idol polish. No walls.

Kole freezes. He could stop it. He should stop it.But something in Jackson's voice holds him there-tethered like a stormcloud on a string.

> "He drives me crazy, Han. Kole. He's like..."A beat. A breath."He sees me. Like really sees me. And he doesn't even flinch."

Kole's heartbeat stutters.

> "And the worst part?" Jackson's voice cracks. "I think I'm in love with him. I just don't know how to be loved back."

Kole can't breathe.

The message ends in silence.

His fingers tremble as he places the phone back where he found it. Like he's holding something sacred-and dangerous.

Jackson walks in a second later, wiping his hands with a towel, blissfully unaware. His shirt is loose. His hair is damp from a rushed sink rinse. He smiles like nothing's wrong.

Kole looks at him-and sees everything.

All the cracks. All the ache.All the things Jackson never says out loud. Except when he thinks no one's listening.

Kole doesn't say a word.

He just walks past Jackson, brushing their shoulders as he goes.

And Jackson turns, frowning. "You okay?"

Kole nods, his voice low. "Yeah."

But he's not.

Because love, when it's real, comes like that-quiet, wild, and terrifying.And now he knows. Jackson loves him.But doesn't know how to let himself be loved.

And that-Kole realizes-might break them more than anything else ever could.