Chapter 4: Echoes Beneath the Surface

Rain fell in a fine mist over the city, turning the streets silver under the glow of traffic lights. In her penthouse, Lia watched the footage Kai had retrieved from the old docks. The camera angles were blurry, but the face of the man standing with Ren was unmistakable.

NOVA.

“Kai,” she said calmly, though her voice held an undercurrent of storm, “track everything Ren’s been doing over the last month. Devices. Calls. Even the burner phones.”

Kai raised an eyebrow. “You want me to dig into Dreamer now?”

Lia didn’t hesitate. “Only Ren. Quietly.”

Kai nodded. “I’ll be gentle.”

She leaned back, conflicted. Ren wasn’t stupid. If he was meeting with NOVA, he had to know what kind of danger that brought. But what Lia couldn’t figure out was… why?

Meanwhile, in the Dorm

Jae-hyun knocked on Ren’s door for the second time that morning. No answer.

He entered anyway.

Ren was sitting on his bed, staring at a photo in his hand. It was old—creased at the edges. Jae-hyun could just make out a younger Ren with a girl, smiling under a cherry blossom tree.

“That your sister?” Jae asked.

Ren startled, quickly hiding the photo. “It’s nothing.”

Jae crossed his arms. “Ren, I’m not just your leader. I’m your friend. You’re lying about something. I saw you leave last night. I followed. I saw the car at the docks.”

Ren stiffened. “You followed me?”

“You were acting shady.” Jae’s voice was firm but not accusing. “I just want to know—are you in danger?”

Ren looked away, eyes darkening. “It’s complicated.”

“Then uncomplicate it.”

The Secret Files

Back at her command center, Kai broke into Ren’s encrypted phone logs and private server—expecting teenage drama or maybe secret fan accounts.

What he found stunned even him.

“Kai to Lia,” he said, voice sharp over the intercom.

“You need to see this.”

The screen flickered to life.

Ren’s messages were coded. Layered.

Government-level encryption. But Kai was better. Inside the files were photos, coordinates, surveillance notes—on Lia.

“He’s been collecting data on you,” Kai said quietly. “Or... for you?”

Lia’s eyes narrowed. “What if he’s not spying on me, but protecting me?”

Kai blinked. “Wait—you think he’s undercover? For NOVA or against it?”

“I don’t know yet,” Lia murmured. “But this just got a lot more dangerous.”

Dreamer’s Practice Room

Minho panted heavily, wiping sweat from his brow.

“Yo, where is Ren? Lia’s gonna flip if we don’t get our formation right.”

Haneul smirked. “Honestly, she might flip either way. She’s been scarier lately.”

Jiho laughed. “Maybe she’s secretly some kind of mafia boss or something.”

They all paused.

The joke hit a little too real.

“She does know everyone in the industry,” Jae-hyun added absently. “And no one knows where she lives.”

Jiho gasped dramatically. “She’s Batman!”

Minho snorted. “More like Bat-Queen.”

Outside the practice room, Lia stood silently, having overheard every word. She didn’t laugh, but she smiled faintly.

If only they knew…

The Meet

Ren received the text late that night.

“Come alone. Don’t disappoint us again.”

He debated ignoring it, but NOVA didn’t take silence well.

Ren slipped out past curfew, dressed in all black, and headed for the abandoned warehouse in the industrial district. When he arrived, the man from the docks was waiting—this time with two others, faces masked.

“You’re late again,” the man said coolly. “That’s twice.”

“I told you I’m out,” Ren said sharply. “I’m not doing this anymore.”

The man stepped forward. “You don’t get to decide that, Ren. We made you. You exist because we allowed it. And now we want something in return.”

“What?”

“The girl. Kang Lia.”

Ren’s blood ran cold.

“She’s becoming a threat,” the man continued. “We need to know who she really is. You’re close to her. Embedded. Use that.”

“I won’t betray her.”

The man’s eyes glittered. “Then we’ll just have to remind you what loyalty costs.”

Before Ren could react, he was struck hard across the face, collapsing to the ground.

“Two days,” the man said. “Or we start with your sister.”

The Hacker’s Revenge

Kai nearly punched his monitor.

“Lia, Ren just got ambushed. I was monitoring his signal. His phone went offline, but I got a snapshot of the warehouse before it cut.”

Lia’s heart dropped. “Send me the coordinates.”

“Already in your car’s nav system.”

She didn’t hesitate. Within minutes, she was out of the building, hair tied up, face masked, clad in black.

This wasn’t the manager the idols knew. This was the heir to a shadow empire.

She arrived just in time to see Ren stumble out, blood on his face, his steps unsteady. She caught him before he collapsed.

“I told you to stay away,” he mumbled.

“And I told you I don’t listen well.”

Vulnerable Confessions

They sat together in the back of the car, silence stretching between them. Rain tapped against the windows like nervous fingers.

“I joined NOVA when I was fifteen,” Ren finally said.

“They promised to protect my sister. They lied.”

Lia stayed quiet.

“When I got into Dreamer, I thought I was free. But they found me. They always do.”

“You’ve been protecting me,” Lia said, more realization than question.

Ren nodded. “I knew something was off about you. I thought maybe... you were in danger too.”

Lia looked at him.

“You really have no idea who I am, do you?”

Ren blinked. “What?”

She leaned in, whispering, “They should’ve told you to be careful who you threaten. Because I’m not the one in danger.”

Ren stared. “Then... who are you really?”

She smiled. But it didn’t reach her eyes.

“A ghost. A storm. A woman who chose to hide behind a stage light rather than a gun.”

The Storm Ahead

Back at HQ, Kai patched Ren up.

“You owe me a cake,” he grumbled.

Ren winced. “Are you always this sarcastic?”

Kai snorted. “You’re lucky I didn’t hack your Spotify out of revenge.”

Lia, standing by the window, watched the storm gather outside. NOVA had crossed a line. They’d made it personal. And they had no idea what kind of power they had provoked.

“They want a war,” she said. “We’ll give them one.”

Kai raised a brow. “With or without the idols?”

Lia turned, her gaze sharp. “For now, Dreamer stays out of this. But if they touch even one of them again…”

Her voice dropped to a whisper.

“…I’ll burn them to the ground.”

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