"Boom, hurry! We might run out of seats!"
Boom looked up from where he was standing, watching his cousin Lax practically fly into the Starlight University gym. The whole place felt like a concert arena, packed with colorful banners, screaming fans, and speakers loud enough to wreck his eardrums.
"Lax…" Boom whispered under his breath. "Why am I even here?"
He clutched a placard that read "WE LOVE YOU JASPER!" — though he had no idea who "Jasper" even was, or if that was really the name of the group.
Kael Boom Santiago, a simple preschool teacher, had never shoved his way through crowds like this. He was more used to being surrounded by little kids jumping around, drawing suns and mountains, than getting squished among rabid fans.
But here he was now.
Dragged along by Lax, who begged him to help cover the orientation event for the Starlympics — specifically, the arrival of the famous P-pop group JASPER.
"Promise, Boom. This'll be quick. Just a bit of footage of their arrival, then we're out. Please?" Lax had pleaded earlier. And because he never knew how to say no, here he was — holding a placard and accepting stickers from overly friendly fangirls beside them.
"Excuse me, excuse me!" shouted a girl wielding a light stick, her bag hooking painfully onto Boom's arm.
"Ouch…" he muttered.
In the distance, his eyes fell on a figure who seemed different from the rest.
A man in a black hoodie. Silent. Not joining the crowd's screams.
He didn't belong. But more than how he looked, there was something about him that made Boom shiver — was it fear? Or nostalgia?
Boom stared at the man, but before he could get a good look at his face, he vanished into the sea of people.
"Boom!" Lax tapped him. "You're zoning out again! Come on, the countdown's starting!"
He looked at the LED screen. Just a few seconds left. 10… 9… 8…
When it hit "0," the whole gym fell into darkness. The crowd went dead silent, an electric anticipation settling in the air.
Then — BOOM!
The sound wave hit from the speakers. Spotlights struck the stage. And there stood the four members of JASPER.
Kenji. Sky. Zayn. And… Auo.
Boom gasped. Not because he was starstruck — but because of a feeling he couldn't explain.
Familiarity.
Connection.
Auo's eyes seemed to land right on him. He couldn't be sure if the idol really looked his way, but for those few seconds, it felt like… he was the only person there.
Like the world stopped turning.
"Who is he?" Boom whispered.
"And why does it feel like… I know him?"
---
Meanwhile, backstage…
"Dude, you okay?" Zayn asked, combing his hair. "You seemed out of it on stage earlier."
Auo didn't answer right away. He just stared at his reflection.
"I saw someone."
"A fan?"
"Maybe…"
"Or someone I used to know."
Sky pouted. "You're so dramatic. We just saw some guy holding a 'We Love You' placard and now you're in panic mode."
But Auo stayed quiet. That wasn't just some random encounter. The eyes of that man — the one they called Boom — carried a sting of memory.
"Kael?"
A fleeting image flashed in Auo's mind — an old Polaroid photo. A child. A smile. And a necklace engraved with…
A.K.A.
---
Back to Boom…
"Boom, did you see how handsome Auo was?! He looked like a Greek god!" Lax squealed as they left the venue.
But Boom stayed silent. Not because he was impressed — but because he couldn't understand why his chest felt so tight.
"Lax…"
"Hmm?"
"Earlier, in the crowd… there was a man watching me. In a hoodie."
"Probably a stalker? Was he cute?"
"I don't know. But… I felt something strange."
"Boom," Lax stopped walking. "You've been out of it for days. Just the other day, you told me you kept dreaming about a swing in a garden, remember?"
Boom nodded. "Yeah. Over and over. And there's a man whispering 'A.K.A.'"
"What does that even mean?"
"I don't know. But every time I hear it, I feel like I'm looking for something — I just don't know what."
They continued their walk back to the dorm in silence. Outside the campus, Boom turned to look at the crowd one last time. There he was again — the man standing far away. The same man from earlier.
But now, he was holding an old Polaroid photo.
And before Boom could approach him, the man turned and walked away.
---
Auo pulled out a small box from under his bed. Slowly, he opened it. Inside was a faded photo — him, another young boy, and Boom as a child.
"Kael…" he whispered. "Is it really you?"
He also took out a necklace — its pendant engraved with three letters: A.K.A.
As he held it, old memories flooded back.
A swing. Laughter. Birthday cake. And a promise…
"No one gets left behind."