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I had to admit, as much as I missed having Anna’s presence on the SKEES property, it was nice to have time completely to myself again. Although I always made sure to check in on Anna, I didn’t have to worry about dates and a work schedule. I never minded going the distance to make time to see her but it did typically make for a lot of long, exhausting days and shortened nights as I tried to fit everything in.

"Well, aren't you lucky," she remarked one time during a late-night videochat, her half-hearted bitterness only entertaining me. "While you're catching up on sleep, the only thing I'm catching is a cold from no sleep whatsoever. Must be nice being you."

Well, I wouldn’t have said I was necessarily catching up on sleep or anything. I still had an entire career to focus on and all the time I would’ve been spending with her if she were around were replaced with additional work activities by my request. That meant more recording studio hours, more events, and more fan-service than ever before. And of course, she knew that and was still cheering me on even from America. All of her colors were just finally being revealed to me, including her most sarcastic and savage ones, and honestly, it was fun to experiene.

But still, I was only human. There were plenty of times when not even her encouragement kept me going and when sleep wasn't willing to wait through a long night of work.

For example, three weeks into my somewhat Anna-less life, I ended up working so late with so much built-up exhaustion that I fell asleep at my workstation. Anyone that I had been working with that day had left at a reasonable hour and weren't around to either keep me awake or wake me up so I could go home myself. So without even realizing it, I had let the studio’s desk chair serve as a temporary bed and the desk as a pillow and passed out. I was fully prepared to sleep in the next morning, even if it was in there.

Yes, I was prepared to do that.

A raspy curse escaped my lips as my phone vibrated incessantly for what felt like the millionth time. I had turned off the ringer a few minutes earlier after realizing I was being a victim of phone calls, not my alarm. I sure as hell wasn’t going to give on my dream to sleep in so easily.

Unfortunately, to turn off my phone’s vibration would've taken some serious digging through my settings and by that point, I would've surely been completely awake. And at this rate, it didn’t seem like the calls were going to stop so there really wasn’t any chance of me getting my way.

With a frustrated huff, I pushed myself away from the desk, my frown pushing down on my puffy eyes. What the was so god damn important at such an unforgiving time of the morning? Not only was I so obnoxiously woken up but my clock was telling me that it was literally the crack of dawn.  

Snatching my phone from where it had previously been vibrating next to my head, I scrolled through my missed calls, though I was tempted to chuck the device at a wall.

I saw everyone I’d expect to pull a stunt like this- Hoseok, Namjoon, Jimin, Jungkook, Taehyung, Jin, and a few others. I just wasn’t expecting to see the number of calls each of them made to me- all at one time, no less. Even more surprising, one of my missed calls was from the SKEES Automatic Messaging machine. They rarely sent out calls for anything, it was really just a precaution they used for emergencies like serious storms or something of that sort. I couldn’t even remember the last time any of us had gotten a call from them.

Against my best judgment, I told myself I’d listen to their voicemails in a few minutes and tapped the callback button of my most recent missed call. The phone hardly rang once before it was answered.

“Yoongi, you’re up,” Hoseok said immediately in a manner very much unlike himself. I would’ve said something about it if I wasn’t so damn irritated.

“Well, yeah, all of you guys basically saw to that. I mean, do any of you realize what time it is? What the hell is wrong with you all?” I snapped. But instead of getting defensive or laughing it off like he normally would, he ignored my bitterness completely.

“Where are you?”

“The studio. Why?” I asked, confused by his urgency.

“Did you get the call from SKEES?”

“Yeah, what was that all about?” I questioned, hoping for a summary from him rather than actually listening to the message itself.

“Uh, maybe you should listen to it. Or actually, you’re in front of a computer, right? Maybe check your e-mail instead. I feel like that might be better for you,” he spoke slowly and hesitantly, as if he were walking on eggshells. It was then that the worrying began.

Nevertheless, I did as he said. I woke up my computer in a much nicer fashion than my friends had woken me and opened up a browser to log onto my email. As expected, I had an e-mail from Director Jung waiting for me. It’s bolded subject line only furthered my confusion.

“‘Regretfully addressing this horribly tragic incident’?” I read out loud before clicking on it. “Hobi, what is this-”

I was immediately silenced upon reading the first line.

   To all artists and staff members of The South Korean Elite Entertainment Society,

   As I write this message, Korean news stations everywhere are preparing their stories on our family and fellow artists in America right now, unfortunately bearing horrifying news that we all never imagined we’d ever have to hear.

On Hobi’s end, he just barely heard one quietly stuttered “what?” escape my lips, followed by the rapid tapping of my fingers against my computer’s keyboard.

“Hyung…,” the younger man sighed, knowing how close I was to learning of an absolutely awful occurrence.

“Yoongi-hyung,” I heard him say again as I sat at my computer, typing in three simple key words into his search engine.

Annabelle, incident, America.

My finger hesitated over ENTER before my impatience encouraged my finger to press down on it. Multiple search results came up telling of the same thing, one article notably larger in size as the featured search result.

VIDEO: Disturbing footage shows the moment South Korean celebrity Moon Chun Hwa was shot as she performed alongside her labelmates at their open concert in Dallas.

My heart dropped into furthest pits of my stomach. My body tensed and my mouth dried out. Clicking open the article, the first thing I did was press play on the attached video.

Thinking of Namjoon's message to Anna before she left, I could already see ‘disaster’ written all over the scenario simply based on the setting of the concert- it was literally an open show, the temporary stage surrounded by the city’s tall buildings. Based on the angle and distance that the video was from the stage, it didn’t seem as if the taker was actually attending the concert but was simply spectating from the outside.

I was only further horrified to see that their choreography had all the girls in a straight line across the edge of the stage with Anna standing directly next to Chun Hwa, who stood at the very end at stage right.

The video started out so unsuspecting. The girls seemed so happy to be interacting with and singing to their international fans on their own home turf. They sounded and looked great, each girl wearing her own beautiful smile. Anna even moseyed on over to Chun Hwa at one point, wrapping an arm around her thin shoulders and showing off the close friendship that everyone adored. There probably wasn’t a more obvious bond on that stage.

Generally knowing how the video was going to end, I held my breath te entire time Anna was connected to Chun Hwa. I hadn’t seen anything about Anna getting hurt amongst everything I’d skimmed through but skimming meant I hadn’t really read much at all. So to say that I released my breath in one big wave of wind when Anna finally unlatched from her was an understatement.

But no sooner had Anna stepped away did a loud crack sound off, making everybody flinch and stop what they were doing. Anna looked over her shoulder to see a stunned Chun Hwa clutching at her stomach and falling backwards from the impact of the bullet.

I witnessed the whole audience erupt into a panic, all too familiar with such a situation in America. Screams pierced the air like sirens and people scrambled about, bumping into each other and forcefully pushing their way through to find an escape from the packed crowd. Men and women dressed in dark clothes labeled either ‘Security’ or ‘Police’ flooded the area, either ushering people out or searching for the shooter. In the background, I could hear people repeating words of utter shock as they were shoved right and left by escaping attendees.

Anna stared at Chun Hwa in horror before more popping sounds unleashed, making her and the other girls flinch and duck. They all looked so heartbreakingly panicked- so fearful of their fates. And I so desperately wanted to step into the video and pull them all out of that moment in time. To protect all four of them.

At that point, the video got too shaky to see much else. The last clear image I had was of event staff and security quickly rushing on stage towards the girls. They each grabbed and surrounded their own girl, bringing them to safety as quickly as possible.

I slammed my hand down on the space bar, ending the video a few seconds early. The overwhelming pain in my chest told me I had seen enough. That was something I never wanted to see ever again. Watching a bullet rip into Chun Hwa like she was made of nothing… what kind of horror was that?

Namjoon was right to tell Anna to be careful. He had warned me of major shootings in America but it never seemed like such a real threat until that moment. I didn’t feel its impact until now.

I slowly rose to my feet, surprised by the way my knees buckled beneath me. I leaned my arms on my desk, my phone resting next to my hands reminding me of my phone call with Hoseok. With shaky fingers, I took the phone into my hands, turned it off speaker, and brought it to my ear.

“Hoseok?” I spoke almost breathlessly.

“Yeah, I’m here,” he assured me. “What was all that noise on your end?”

“It was a video of the shooting,” I told him, my voice at half-strength. I almost couldn’t believe I had said such a thing. “You haven’t seen it?”

“Oh god. No… no, I haven’t,” he said. I could imagine him shaking his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe… this is just crazy.”

I understood his loss for words very well. I gave a deep sigh. “I want you to meet me at the recreation center. Let the guys know, too.”

“We're way ahead of you, hyung. A few of us are on our way now while the others are already there,” he revealed. “Apparently, most of SKEES is there waiting to watch the first TV broadcast of the news together.”

I wished they weren’t. I wished there wasn’t any news for them to wait for- that this was any other Tuesday and that those girls were going on like they would with any other overseas schedule. But this wasn’t one of those Disney movies Anna would force upon me. This was reality, and reality never failed to stun me.

The walk to the recreation center felt longer than usual, despite it being just down the street. My eyes lingered on the girls’ apartment complex as I passed it on my way, my pace subconsciously slowing. A more pessimistic part of me worried that there would be one less girl returning back to her residence hall. At least one.

Shaking my head in a failed attempt to clear it, I continued on my way with my head hung low, ignoring the paparazzi snapping away from beyond the street’s gates. I mentally cursed at the placement of the recreation center on Entertainment Ave; as the last building on the south end of the street, it was the closest building to the gates. There was no better opportunity for paparazzi and fans to see us than when we were entering it.

To be honest, the early time of day plus school hours had most of the fans kept away but the presence of paparazzi and media outlets was more overwhelming than ever. Tragedy had just struck our organization so to snap pictures and videos of our reactions was media gold, no matter how shallow. And if Hoseok was right, they were basically about to see us all.

Ignoring the yelling and the flashing cameras, I walked through the glass front doors of what was typically the most relaxed building on Entertainment Ave- just not today. Hoseok wasn’t kidding, it seemed as if I was staring at the backs of every entertainter in SKEES as they crowded around the oversized flatscreen in the main room. The size of the TV on the wall had always seemed ridiculously unnecessary until that moment.

As it was 2 minutes after the hour, the news reports had already kicked off and what do you know, the girls in America’s faces appeared on the screen right off the bat. My eyes lingered too long on Anna.

Despite having already read the story online, I listened intently, quietly walking up behind my group of friends. They hadn’t noticed my presence, their wide eyes locked onto the dreaded video as the news station featured it for all of Korea to witness. Everyone shared the same level of absolutely horror, the feeling plastered on their faces. Some even jumped in their places at the sound of the gunshot. Almost all gasped. I had to look away.

“Hyung,” a voice eventually caught my attention. I glanced up to see six pairs of eyes on me. I also noticed that the reporters had moved on to a new story. How long had my mind drifted away?

“What?” I asked as they all looked at me sadly, but no one said a thing.

Normally, I would’ve snapped at them. But today, I couldn’t. I could only hang my head low as those around us dispersed from the area whispering words of despair, having seen what they came to see. But my friends and I stayed put, frozen like statues. I released a deep sigh. “I know.”

“They said she’s okay, Yoongi,” Jin spoke up. “All the girls, maybe even Chun Hwa. She survived the initial shooting so all she has to do is make it through the surgery.”

He spoke as if that wasn’t hard to do. Still, I clearly really hadn’t been listening. Those were details I was hearing for the first time. “How long ago did they start operating on her?”

The oldest man of the group shook his head. “They didn’t say. But the shooting took place at 2:53 in the afternoon there, which is 3:53 in the morning here. It’s 5:07 now, which means-”

“We won’t know anything for a while,” I finished, easily coming to that conclusion on my own. “Just ing great.”

Everyone seemed to be at an incredible loss for words and feeling incredibly down. I couldn’t even express any form of gratitude when Seulgi placed a consoling hand on my shoulder as she passed us by. Just a nod that I knew she would understand. I repeated the same formality for anyone else who realized what kind of place I specifically must’ve been in at that moment.

“We’ve all been given the day off, you know, due to the… circumstances,” Taehyung pointed out uncomfortably. “What do we do?”

It was a great question considering none of us seemed to want to do anything. I shrugged solemnly, my eyes down-casted. I spoke with growing despair.

“What else can we do but wait?”

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Chun Hwa's fate lies in Part 2. To be continued...