The midnight mix

Chapter 9

The golden light of a fresh morning filtered through the high glass windows of the studio complex, replacing the cool blue tones of the editing monitors with a warm, lazy glow.

Liora’s eyelids fluttered open first. She blinked against the morning light, feeling surprisingly well-rested. She shifted her legs to stretch, but her shins immediately hit a heavy, solid obstruction.

She paused, tilting her head down. Her breath caught in her throat, and her entire body froze completely solid.

There, slumped at the very edge of the sofa, was Cairo. The fierce, terrifying "Rap Monster" was fast asleep, his head resting dangerously close to Liora’s feet, his face looking softer than it ever did when he was awake. The jacket Axel had draped over him was halfway sliding off his broad shoulders.

Liora’s mind went into a frantic, silent tailspin. Why is he here? Why did he sleep on the couch? Did anyone see this?

Panic rising in her chest, Liora quickly scanned the dim room. The editing bay was empty; the managers and the editor were nowhere to be found. Liora let out a tiny, silent breath of relief, but she still had to solve the problem of escaping without waking the beast.

Moving with the absolute precision of a dancer, Liora slowly sat up. She reached for the plush studio pillow she had been hugging all night. With agonizing slowness, she slid her legs out from under the blanket while simultaneously sliding the soft pillow under Cairo’s head to support it.

For a breathless three seconds, Cairo stirred, a low rumble coming from his throat as his nose brushed the fabric of the pillow. Liora froze, holding her breath, her face burning a bright crimson. But Cairo just turned onto his side, hugging the blanket tighter, completely unaware of the swap.

Liora stood up, her legs a little shaky. She looked down at Cairo for one long, unreadable moment before quietly turning on her heel and slipping out of the room, heading toward the corporate training and lounge area to wash her face.

The Lounge: 7:30 AM

In the bright, spacious lounge kitchen, the smell of freshly brewed coffee and hot traditional breakfast platters filled the air. Cassian and Axel were already awake, actively setting up containers of rice, grilled fish, and tamagoyaki on the island counter.

The door clicked open, and Liora walked in. She had washed her face, but her ink-black hair was still a little unruly, and her oversized grey sweater made her look small and sleepy. She didn't say a single word. She just marched directly across the polished floor straight toward Cassian.

Cassian looked up from a container of miso soup. "Liora? You're awake. The food just arrived_"

Before Cassian could finish his sentence, Liora stopped right in front of him and lifted both of her arms out wide, her dark blue eyes widening into an intense, silent demand for a hug.

Cassian stiffened. It was a universally acknowledged truth in the music industry that Cassian absolutely hated physical touch. He kept his distance from everyone, wearing his high collars and sharp attitude like armor. The only person in the entire world who had a permanent, unrestricted VIP pass to his personal space was his wife, Yuki.

But Liora was the exception to the rule. Liora tilted her head slightly, her lower lip giving the tiniest, almost invisible pout, her large blue eyes melting into the ultimate "doe eyes" expression. It was a look that successfully reminded Cassian of the lonely fourteen-year-old kid he had taken under his wing years ago.

Cassian let out a loud, deeply dramatic groan, rolling his eyes toward the ceiling. "You are twenty years old, Liora. You are a global superstar."

Despite the complaining, Cassian set the soup down, stepped forward, and wrapped his arms around Liora, giving her a firm, protective hug. He even reached up with one hand to roughly but fondly ruffle Liora's long black hair. "Go sit down and eat. Your voice still sounds like a cracked window from yesterday's stunt."

Axel watched the display from across the counter, crossing his arms and let out a bright, booming laugh that echoed off the cabinets. "An excellent morning display of brotherly affection! Eat up, Liora! I shall go and retrieve the sleeping giant before the food gets cold!"

The Awakening.

Minutes later, the lounge door slid open again.

Cairo walked in, looking like a literal walking disaster zone. He was yawning so widely his jaw clicked, one of his large hands aggressively rubbing his eyes.

His white hair was sticking up in absolutely every direction, wilder than a storm cloud, and his muscle shirt was slightly wrinkled from sleeping on the leather cushions.

He sniffed the air, his violet eyes blinking sleepily as they landed on the food. "Is that the spicy pork?" he rasped, his voice incredibly deep and rough from sleep.

Liora, who was currently sipping her tea on a barstool next to Cassian, immediately looked down at her cup, her ears turning a faint shade of pink as the memory of the pillow swap flashed in her mind.

"Ah, Cairo, You live" Axel cheered, handing him a pair of chopsticks. "Sit, We have a long day of album formatting ahead of us"

Cairo slumped onto the stool directly across from Liora, still yawning. He looked at Liora, blinking his heavy eyelids.

"Morning, Princess. Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"

Liora took a slow, deliberate sip of her tea, completely hiding her face behind the porcelain cup.

"I am perfectly fine, Cairo. You should worry more about your hair. The 'bird's nest' from yesterday has officially evolved into a crisis."

Cairo scoffed, running a hand through his white locks, a sleepy but dangerous smirk returning to his face. "Yeah, yeah. Just pass the rice before I eat your portion too."

The managers shared a quiet, knowing look over the counter.

The breakfast was loud, the bickering was back, but the space between the two solo kings felt smaller than it ever had before.

The global music industry didn’t just shake; it completely shattered.

The breakfast table in the lounge was a mess of half-empty rice bowls and empty coffee cups when the corporate tablet in Cassian’s hand started making a frantic, continuous pinging sound. It sounded like an alarm going off, but it was actually the real-time analytics tracker from the global streaming platforms.

Cassian froze, his chopsticks hovering an inch from his mouth. His heterochromia eyes widened so fast they looked huge. He tapped the screen once, then twice, thinking the system was lagging.

"What is it, Cassian?" Axel asked, swallowing a mouthful of tamagoyaki. "Did the upload schedule change?"

Cassian didn't look up. His voice was completely flat with shock. "The music videos... they’ve been live for exactly two hours."

Cairo, who was currently drowning a piece of grilled fish in soy sauce, snorted. "Yeah, and? The 'Beasts' and the 'Beauties' are probably arguing in the comments section about who carried the tracks. Standard procedure."

"No," Cassian whispered, turning the tablet around so the entire table could see the glowing red numbers on the dashboard. "Look at the counter."

The 100 Million Breakdown

Right there, stamped at the top of the global charts, was a number that didn't even make logical sense for a two-hour release window:

TOTAL GLOBAL VIEWS (ALL 4 MVs): 100,000,000+

Status: WORLD RECORD BROKEN (Fastest Collaboration Project to Reach 100M Views in History)

The silence in the lounge lasted for three whole seconds. Then, the entire studio complex outside the door erupted into a deafening roar of cheers, screams, and clapping. The production team, the editors, and the marketing staff were literally jumping up and down in the hallways.

Axel slammed both hands onto the counter, his bright eyes flashing with pure ecstasy. "A HUNDRED MILLION! IN TWO HOURS! THAT IS AN EXTRAORDINARY FEAT OF MUSICAL EXCELLENCE! HAHAHA!"

Liora, who had been quietly chewing on a piece of pickled r****h, stopped mid-bite. She stared at the tablet, her dark blue eyes blinking in utter disbelief. She had achieved number-one hits before, but this was a completely different level of cultural dominance.

"One... hundred million? In two hours?"

"We didn't just trend," Cassian said, a rare, genuine smile pulling at his lips beneath his high collar. "We broke the server algorithm. The streaming platform had to pause the view counter twice because it couldn't keep up with the influx of traffic. You two just set a certified world record."

Cairo stared at the screen, his jaw slightly slack before his signature, cocky smirk slowly tore across his face. He leaned back on his stool, ruffling his messy white hair with a loud chuckle. "Well, damn. I knew my verses were fire, but I didn't think the world would catch on that fast."

"Your verses didn't do that alone, Cairo," Liora countered, her soft morning voice trying to sound calm, though a soft, beautiful smile was blooming on her lips. "The fans explicitly stated in the live-chat that the transition into my melody is what saved the structure."

"Oh, really? Let's look at the breakdown then, Princess!" Cairo leaned across the island counter, his violet eyes locked onto Liora's face, his energy instantly shifting from sleepy to completely electric. "I bet you fifty bucks the 'Intimate' video has twice the views of the 'Sad' one!"

"I am not gambling on our own analytics," Liora pouted, taking a defensive sip of her green tea, but her ears were burning a bright pink at the mere mention of that candle-lit music video.

The Cultural Meltdown

Cassian clicked onto the live Twitter feed, and the hashtags were scrolling so fast they were a blur of text:

#MidnightMonster100M- Trending Worldwide #1

#TheFirstWhoEverDid- Trending Worldwide #2

#midnight beauty x rap monster- Trending Worldwide #3

The top comment pinned on the main video had over three million likes already:

@VocalGoddess: "The final candle scene in 'The First Who Ever Did' wasn't acting. Look at Cairo's hands in Liora's hair! Look at the way Liora buried her face! They literally forgot the camera was there! A HUNDRED MILLION VIEWS BECAUSE THEY ARE IN LOVE!"

Cairo’s eye gave that familiar, erratic twitch as he read the comment over Cassian’s shoulder. He glanced at Liora, who was suddenly very interested in the pattern of the wooden countertop, her face matching the pink hue of her sweater cuffs.

Axel stood up, pouring fresh juice for everyone. "Arguments aside, this calls for a toast! To the Solo King and queen, To the record-breakers!"

They raised their cups, Cassian looking proud, Axel beaming, and the two "idiots" staring at each other across the table.

The world record was official, their careers had reached the stratosphere, and the line between their rivalry and reality had just gotten a hundred million times thinner.