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The studio lights glowed faintly, stretching shadows across the polished floors of the WAKEONE building. It was late past midnight, the kind of quiet hour where the city outside dissolved into silence. Inside, the only sound Leo could hear was the steady thump of his own heartbeat. ALD1 had wrapped their comeback promotions earlier that evening, the cheers of fans still echoing in his ears like a distant echo. But no matter how tired his body was, sleep wouldn’t come. He went directly to the recording booth.
“Inspiration striking again, Leo-ssi?”
“Something like that,” Leo had murmured, his mind already drifting.
Now, alone in the booth, he queued up the track on the console “Ghost Girl,” his new written song from TXT’s new album, The Star Chapter: TOGETHER. Yeonjun’s voice, raw, haunting, filled the space, the reggae rock beat pulsing like a heartbeat. But for Leo, it wasn’t just a song. It was a confession, a retrospective etched in melody, every lyric a thread woven from the fabric of his hidden love.
He leaned back in his chair, eyes closing as the intro washed over him. The guitar riff slinked in, lazy yet insistent. Leo remembered the night he wrote the first verse, holed up in this very booth months ago, during the height of Boys 2 Planet. Sangwon had been his anchor then, a smile that steadied him, a presence that felt solid even when everything else spun out of control. But Sangwon was also untouchable, a ghost in plain sight, always close, never his, not where cameras could see.
“You can be my ghost girl, you can take my soul, girl,
I’ll forget everything while losing myself, the real world,
You can be my ghost girl, you can be my ghost girl,
Hold my heart,
I’ll surrender everything while you take control,
You can be my ghost girl.”
Leo’s breath caught, the chorus a vow he’d whispered to himself during Boys 2 Planet’s chaos, when Sangwon’s first place glow felt like a world apart. Sangwon was his ghost girl. Those shared glances during evaluations, Sangwon’s hand brushing his under a table, had stolen his soul. Leo would forget the real world, the cameras, the fans, the idol grind for Sangwon’s control, his shy smile a rhythm that held Leo’s heart. Their first kiss, stolen in a practice room in 2022, Sangwon’s lips soft, was a surrender Leo craved, a poetic pulse he’d never escape.
“I feel you, wherever my feet take me,
It’s like I’m possessed, like all of me belongs to you,
This emotion feels like it might suffocate me,
Only you are my breath, only you are my truth,
You’re the one I don’t wanna lose.”
Leo was back there, where the pressure to win was an empire in itself. And Sangwon’s wide, expressive eyes were the only thing that could make him forget it all, his laughter echoing like a melody Leo couldn’t escape. The “ghost girl” wasn’t gendered in Leo’s heart it was Sangwon’s elusive presence, the way he’d sneak into Leo’s bed for whispered confessions, their bodies pressed close in the dark, but always vanishing before dawn to maintain the facade. Sangwon’s eyes, those wide, expressive eyes that held galaxies of emotions, had stolen Leo’s light, dimming the world outside their secret. This verse was Leo’s truth, written after a date night, Sangwon’s touch a possession that suffocated him with love, his shy “hyung” a breath Leo lived for, a truth he’d never want to lose.
“My fever is rising,
I ache for you again today,
Tossing and turning every night in my bed,
An alarm that rings like I’m hearing voices,
The moment I open my eyes,
Your silhouette flickers.”
As the pre-chorus kicked in, Leo’s lips moved silently, the rhythm of a poetic pulse. Sangwon’s grin in Trainee A’s practice room had sparked a fever that never cooled, an ache that flared when his eyes caught Leo’s across a stag, and now, post ALD1 debut, in their dorm where his scent lingered. Leo’s sleepless nights were haunted by Sangwon’s bed breaths, his hoodie on Leo’s pillow. Sangwon’s laugh was an alarm, a voice echoing from late night talks, waking Leo’s soul. Every morning, Sangwon’s sleepy smile flickered a vision from their first tangled dawn, now in ALD1’s makeup mirrors, a poetic silhouette Leo’s heart chased.
“You can be my ghost girl, you can take my soul, girl,
Pull me into your world, where the shadows swirl,
I’d give up the real for your ethereal kiss,
In your haunt, I find bliss, in your mist, I persist.”
Here, the retrospect deepened, the words had always been about surrender. Sangwon had taken Leo’s soul from the first moment, “Ghost girl” was just a mask, the truth was Sangwon’s presence itself fleeting, untouchable, but worth every risk. He’d give up anything so they could be together without fear. The “ethereal kiss” was their first real one. The shadows swirling? That was the secrecy, the mist of their relationship, where Leo persisted despite the risk, his love a rhythm that beat stronger than any track.
Leo paused the song, his chest tight with the memory. He pulled out his notebook, the one filled with scribbled lyrics and doodles of Sangwon’s profile eyes closed in sleep, a smile on his face. The verse about “forgetting the real” hit hardest now. The pressure was relentless, their relationship a ghost in the machine of fame. Sangwon was always there, haunting Leo’s thoughts during interviews, his laugh in the room a siren call pulling Leo from the spotlight. Leo flipped to a page where he’d scribbled a poetic extension.
Sangwon’s gaze shy one moment, fierce the next had possessed Leo since Trainee A, a flame through every sleepless night. His smile, his touch, was a rhythm Leo lived for, a poetic vow etched into every lyrics.
“All of my friends say I’m a lost cause,
And I don’t really care, I don’t really care,
Even hell will feel like heaven,
Baby, stay with me,
I love it, nothing gets me scared.”
This was Sangwon, the way his breath would hitch during their quiet moments, leading Leo astray from the idol facade. It was Sangwon’s touch, light yet scorching, during rare nights off, where they’d tangle in bed, Sangwon’s hands exploring with shy curiosity. Leo had failed at keeping distance, gladly surrendering to the maze of their love, the twists of secrecy and passion. This verse was Leo’s defiance, written when teammates teased his distraction, Sangwon’s wide eyes turning hell into heaven. Sangwon’s whispering a little “stay” a plea that drowned out fear, a rhythm that made Leo fearless, a poetic vow to hold on no matter the cost.
“Darling, if I’m with you,
I’ll walk through the dark,
So what if I’m crazy,
I breathe because of you,
Follow where you are,
Overcome even the most difficult goodbyes.”
Poetic darkness, rhythms of despair and devotion. Sangwon was Leo’s light, guiding him through difficult nights, his shy touch a reason to breathe. Leo wrote this after Trainee A’s disbandment, when Sangwon’s tearful hug promised they’d survive the goodbye. The dawn of debut shows, the light of spotlights, all dim without Sangwon’s presence.
Leo remembered a night during the competition, Sangwon crying in his arms after a bad evaluation, his light dimmed, and Leo vowing to protect it, even if it meant dwelling in shadows. This was Leo’s promise, a rhythm of crazy love that followed Sangwon, overcoming every loss with a poetic pulse.
As the song faded, Leo paused the song, his fingers lingering on the console. He let out a long, slow breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding, the poem of his love for Sangwon.
“You can be my ghost girl,
Come and take my soul, girl,
Even after pouring out my whole soul, I still offer you my heart again,
You can be my ghost girl (Hey-ey-ey),
You can be my ghost girl,
Even if it consumes me,
Only you were the one who could make me breathe,
You can be my ghost girl (Hey-ey-ey).”
The chorus surged again, and Leo’s heart raced, the words a confession of surrender. Leo wrote this when Sangwon’s first place felt like losing him, in a quiet moment was Leo’s air.
Now, Sangwon’s flickering silhouette consumed him, a poetic rhythm Leo offered his heart to, again and again, a ghost he’d never stop breathing for.
“Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
(You can be my ghost girl),
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
(You can be my ghost girl),
I just wanna be with you,
I just wanna stay with you,
I just wanna live and die with you,
You can be my ghost girl.”
The outro faded, haunting, and Leo’s chest tightened, Sangwon was Leo’s forever. His nervous laugh, his strength, his radiance. Leo wrote this after their first ALD1 performance, Sangwon’s eyes locking with his on stage, a promise to live and die together. The rhythm was a slow, aching pulse, Sangwon’s ghost a constant haunt Leo never wanted to escape, a poetic vow to stay, forever.
Leo leaned back, the song’s echo lingering. Ghost Girl was his truth, every lyric a piece of their love.
The rhythms of “Ghost Girl” weren’t just notes, they were the beat of his heart for Sangwon, a ghost in his life, haunting him with love so intense it consumed him.
Leo closed his notebook, the song’s echo lingering, a reminder that in their story, the ghost girl was real, and he knew, without hesitation, he’d give himself to that haunting soul again.