Chapter 3: First Performance

 

We all stood backstage in a huddle, giving each other pep talks and encouraging pats on the back dispite our true feelings. Every single one of us were nervous, but nobody dared to comment on it, fearing if we did it would jinx our debut performance.

 

"Let's just do what we do best. And have fun." Soomin said, giving us her best smile. 

 

Each of us nodded in agreement to our leader's words. Usually, she always knew what to say to calm us down, cheer us up, or clear our minds, but I don't think it worked this time around. Debuting was a big deal, and we all knew it. It is now or never. It is either make it or break it. 

 

We parted out of our circle to make room for the group that had just got done performing so they could get off stage, bowing slightly as they passed. I recognized them. They were BlockB.

 

My nerves skyrocketed when I realized we were up next to perform. How could we possibly wow the crowd after BlockB? They are practically professionals and we are... Well, I guess we will see where we stand after tonight.

 

"Now go into your starting positions as the MC's are wrapping up their speeches!" A stage director whisper-yelled at us, giving us a thumbs up before lightly nudging us onto the dark stage. 

 

The four of us stood in a row with our backs turned to the stage, striking different poses. We nervously waited until the MC's we done talking and all I could hear was the fans cheering us on. It was encouraging, in a way, but I had a new worry of not being able to hear the music start through my earpiece. 

 

I almost flinched at the volume of our song and the lights flicking on at the same time, but I held it together. It only took me the first eight-count to lose myself in the music. As soon as I did, I knew things would go well. Not just for me, but for my group members too. We fed off of each other's positive energy and ended up delivering a solid performance that turned out to be one of our best...until the very end. 

 

For our ending position, we were once again standing in a line, but closer to the front of the stage and the fans. While Soomin and Toni only had to cross in front of each other to get into the line, Rin and I had to go across the whole stage while singing (more like Rin singing and me accompanying her) to get to our positions. As we were doing so, many fans were calling to us as we were so close, trying to get our attention. Their desperate cries must have distracted Rin because she misjudged her position and ending up colliding with me. We both fell to the floor in front of Soomin and Toni, and even worse, our fans. I did my best to pose and make it seem purposeful. I discretely looked at Rin and noticed she did the exact same pose as me but on the opposite side. 

 

Nobody but us knew we messed up and I let out a breath of relief when the crowd cheered deafening loud. The stage lights turned off and we immediately jogged off stage. My shoulder ached a little, but I paid no attention to it since it was probably from the impact of Rin and I colliding. 

 

"Great job girls! I'm so proud!" Ms. Jung congratulated us while clapping her hands. She had a bad case of happy feet going on, and everyone backstage was laughing at her. But I thought it was cute. She was celebrating our successful debut in her own...unique way.

 

"UNNIE I'M SO SORRY!" Rin clung to me as soon as she was done taking off her microphone and her earpiece. She began rambling on about how she allowed herself to get distracted by the fans while apologizing frantically. 

 

"Rin, clam down! Its no big deal!" I exclaimed, smiling and prying her off my arm gently. Its not that I didn't want her close to me, my shoulder just hurt at how hard she was squeezing me. She let go and stepped back with a hurt expression on her face. I felt bad so I ruffled her hair playfully and she immediately perked up. 

 

"As long as you both are okay, I am not worried about the performance. You all did fantastic!" Ms. Jung said while clapping her hands together. She suddenly stopped cheering when phone started ringing and began digging through her oversized purse to find the device. "Girls, go get dressed while I take this call." 

 

We did as we were told and skipped cheerfully to the dressing room. You would think we would be tired after a performance, but we were too excited to be tired. 

 

As soon as we entered the dressing room, we were attacked by confetti and streamers.

 

"CONGRATULATIONS!" 

 

We all got over our shock and openly stared at BTS and their manager who were the cause of our near panic attacks. All eight of them were crowded into our dressing room, surrounding a huge cake that was decorated with our group name and our names along with cute little sayings placed randomly all over the place. It was obviously homemade. 

 

"Good job on your debut performance!" J-Hope said, giving us a thumbs up. "It was really daebak!" 

 

We all bowed in unison and thanked them multiple times. I felt a little awkward because I didn't know what to say besides 'thank-you', but then again, I hardly ever know what to say in times like these. 

 

"Did you guys make the cake?" Rin asked, taking it from Jungkook who looked as if he had no idea where to put it. He smiled gratefully in return. 

 

"Yes, we all made it together." Jimin said, coming up and putting his arm around Jungkook's shoulder. 

 

"Lies! I made that cake by myself and you all know it." Jin claimed, giving a glare to all of his group members, "It was supposed to be a team effort but they were being annoying so I kicked them out of the kitchen." 

 

The guys started arguing about how they aren't annoying and all we could do was laugh at their bond. Even though they were hitting each other and arguing, you could tell it was all playful and made the guys closer to each other. I wish we could be as close as them one day.

 

"Let's eat some cake!" V exclaimed randomly through the bantering of the guys. 

 

"Take a picture first!" Mr. Song demanded, already having his camera ready to take one.

 

We all posed together around the cake and smiled while holding a thumbs up. As soon as the camera snapped, V took the cake away from Jungkook and Rin (who were holding the cake together) and set it down on a table to dig in. 

 

"Yah, Kim Taehyung! That isn't your cake! You can't have the first piece!" J-Hope yelled as he and Jimin rushed to pull him away from the cake but it was too late. He had somehow managed to cut a piece, put it on a plate, and eat half if it by the time they reached him. 

 

"You idiot! It's always ladies first!" Jin exclaimed sternly with a slap to the back of V's head. 

 

V grinned cheekily which caused pieces of cake to fall from his over-stuffed mouth. Since I was closest to him, he held his plate to me, offering the rest of his cake. I shook my head, refusing his offer politely. He shrugged his shoulders then stuffed the rest of the cake into his mouth. 

 

The others had already given up on trying to make V act civilly and began slicing the cake for everyone to eat. After taking a bite, I could tell Jin really knew how to bake. The cake was delicious. 

 

"Jin, this is really good." I complimented before taking another bite. 

 

He turned to me and looked surprised before he bowed continuously. 

 

"Thank you. I did my best for you all." 

 

The girls agreed with my earlier comment and complimented Jin as well. His cheeks began to turn a bit pink at all the attention he was getting and his group members noticed. They then started messing with him and making fun of him. 

 

After a while of hanging out with BTS, the more comfortable we all got with each other. We all sat down and started conversations with each other. For the most part, I just watched and listened as the girls talked to the guys comfortably until the conversation turned to me. 

 

"Aeyoung, we heard how you taught the choreography of your song so quickly for your music video filming. You're really talented!" Rap Monster said, bringing everyones attention to me. 

 

"Oh, I'm not that talented...I was just really determined to film that day..." I trailed off awkwardly. 

 

"You're too modest!" Jimin said, waving and hand dismissively in my direction before turning to Rap Mon, "If I didn't know any better, I would have thought she was a professional choreographer with years of experience. She was that good." 

 

"Wow!" Rap Monster exclaimed before clapping his hands excitedly. Everyone else joined him (even the girls) and I could feel my face getting hot. I bowed my head a little to hide my embarrassment. 

 

V was sitting beside me and gave me a pat on my shoulder to ease my nerves but unknowingly hit my injured shoulder. I winced a little and grabbed my shoulder. Nobody else noticed our interaction since they were all laughing with each other, but I wasn't sure if V saw it. I smiled slightly at him before getting up from my seat and making my way to leave. J-Hope, who was still laughing from something Jimin said, noticed.

 

"Aeyoung, where are you going?" 

 

I turned back around to see everyone looking at me expectantly. 

 

"I'm just heading to the restroom. I will be back shortly." I said before continuing out of the dressing room. 

 

The hallway was packed with idols, stage directors, managers, stylists, and many other people, so I had to dodge them all just to get to the restroom. Some recognized me and greeted me, which made me feel accomplished, in a way. 

 

I entered the women's restroom and was glad to find it empty. I quickly made my way over to the mirrors to take a look at my shoulder. When I pulled up my sleeve, I could see a bluish-black bruise forming all around the skin of the joint. I involuntarily winced at the sight. If it stays bruised for a long time, the girls might worry about me, and I don't want that. 

 

After pulling my sleeve back down, I fixed my appearance a little and smoothed down my hair that got a little wild after our performance. Once I was satisfied with my look, I left the restroom. I was eager to get back to our little post-debut party so I didn't notice the person standing right outside of the restroom door until I ran right into them. 

 

"Sorry-" I started to apologize but stopped when I saw who I bumped into, "V, do you always follow people to the restrooms and wait for them right outside?" 

 

Instead of laughing like how I thought he would, he just crossed his arms over his chest and frowned at me. I had no idea what to say to him so I moved to walk around him but he grabbed my arm lightly and stopped me. 

 

"Your shoulder is hurt, huh?" He asked but I could tell he already knew the answer. "Why didn't you tell anyone?" 

 

"It's not that big of a deal." I waved a hand dismissively, "Besides, it doesn't hurt that much." 

 

V just stared at me with a blank face that told me everything. He knew my shoulder hurt. He knew I was lying about it not hurting. It made me nervous at how well he could read me, but at the same time I enjoyed it. 

 

"I'm not sure if I like you acting all serious." I commented before laughing. He joined me and soon we were laughing like old friends. It was nice to let my guard down to someone other than my group members and family.

 

"It's hard for me to be serious, but when there is a serious issue that involves my friends, I can be." V informed once we had settled down. 

 

"Oh? So we are friends now?" I asked, only half joking. Honestly, I had no friends besides my group members, but I think V just changed that. 

 

"Yeah! Unless...you dont want to be..." he looked down to the floor and scratched the back of his head nervously, "I mean, I was being a little creepy earlier." 

 

"You really were!" I laughed then pat his arm, "But lets just say you were very concerned." 

 

V brightened and nodded his head, smiling. I returned his smile with one of my own be for linking my arm with his. 

 

"Come on, friend, we need to get back to the others." I said, putting an exaggeration on the word 'friend'. 

 

We were talking and laughing when we made it back to our dressing room. Once we entered, everyone turned to look at us, giving us questioning looks. My face heated up when I realized our arms were still together. I quickly dropped my arm from his and stepped away as discreetly at I could. 

 

"What's up you guys?" V asked, walking over to Suga casually and taking a seat. How he could just act so natural with the way s were looking at him, I had no idea. The girls were also looking at me and I knew they would bombard me with questions later. 

 

"Nothing much," Toni replied with a knowing smile on her face, "We were just making fun of Rin for running into Aeyoung at the end of our performance." 

 

"Unnie! They said I craved attention!" Rin cried as she pointed at Toni and Soomin, who started laughing, "And they said thats why I bumped into you! Tell them it isn't true!" 

 

"Well, we have no other explanation as to why you ran into me..." I trailed off, trying to keep my smile away as I watched Rin's jaw drop open wide. 

 

"A-...Are you taking their side on this?!" She asked. 

 

"There are no sides." I said, showing my palms up in defense, "But I do want answers..."

 

We all laughed at Rin's exasperated face. Even BTS knows how fun it is to tease the maknae of the group. 

 

Jungkook sobered up from his laughing to pat Rin on the head.  

 

"Don't worry, you get used to getting picked on!" He said. Rin's face turned to one of exasperation and Jungkook knew he said the wrong thing so he corrected himself. "...But I mess with Jimin to make it even on myself." 

 

"Oh!" Rin brightened up immediately and turned to Toni, "So I can mess with you, unnie?"

 

We all laughed, especially Toni who thought the maknae was just kidding. Rin is known for being the funny one in our group after all. 

 

"Girls!" Ms. Jung ran into the room panting heavily, interrupting our laughter and causing the room to fall silent. She looked from us to BTS and titled her in question, "Wh- What are they... doing here?" She asked in between breaths. 

 

Mr. Song (who I had forgotten was with us this whole time) rushed to Ms. Jung with a water bottle, opening it before handing it to her. She smiled gratefully before taking huge gulps of the water. It was halfway gone by the time she stopped to take a breath. 

 

"Thank you." She nodded to Mr. Song and handed the water bottle back. He smiled back but didn't say anything. Our manager turned back to us and got excited once again. "Guess what?!" 

 

"What is it, unnie?" Soomin asked, standing up in front of our manager and grabbing her hands in an attempt to stop her bouncing from foot to foot in happiness. The rest of us got up and stood beside our leader, curious about what could have possibly made our manager this hyper. 

 

"I ran throughout the building looking for Ryeowook so I could ask him if he could have you on his radio show, and I got you guys a spot on the show!" Ms. Jung explained. By the end of her explanation she was practically squealing and back to her cute bouncing. 

 

"Oh my gosh, thats awesome!" Rin exclaimed and joined our manager in an abnormally hyper type of celebration. 

 

"Congratulations!" Rap Monster exclaimed while clapping. The rest of BTS joined him. "Now you can reach even greater audiences than you have already." 

 

"Aw! You boys are so cute!" Ms. Jung said as she finally examined the cake and balloons BTS set up for us. 

 

Suga turned to Jin with a confused expression. "Hyung, when did I become cute?" 

 

We all laughed at Suga who scratched his head in embarrassment before excusing himself to the bathroom, saying he had to 'make sure he had swag'. 

 

"Oh yeah! The radio show starts in about 30 minutes so you girls need to hurry and get out of your performance clothes so we can go to the radio station!" Ms. Jung said, then turned to BTS and their manager and began shooing them out of our dressing room, "We really appreciate the party and cake, but you must go now!" 

 

BTS complained a little about the party ending too soon, but still complied with our manager's demand and shuffled to the door. 

 

"Arasso, we understand Minah," Mr. Song said, using Ms. Jung's first name. Sometimes I forgot how close they were to each other, but they were both young and already managing idol groups from the same company, so I am sure they have encountered each other many times throughout the years. "Bye girls and good job on your debut!" He waved to us then turned to our manager who was still pushing him out the door of our dressing room, "See you soon, Minah!" 

 

Ms. Jung managed to close and lock the door while laughing at Mr. Song's playfulness, knowing he took longer than necessary to be funny. She turned to us and he smiled dropped when she saw the looks we were giving her. 

 

"What?" She asked, looking at us suspiciously. 

 

"Why did you push Mr. Song out like that? You totally shut him down!" Soomin accused. 

 

"I don't think I understand..." Ms. Jung said, tilting her head slightly whole pondering. 

 

"He was trying to flirt with you!" Toni exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air in exasperation. 

 

"No. I don't think so..." our manager trailed off, scratching the back of her head from feeling awkward since she was accused of something she wasn't aware of. 

 

"What else did he mean by 'see you soon'?!" Rin asked, making it seem obvious that he was flirting, but Ms. Jung didn't buy it. She just shook her head defiantly and I laughed as my group members practically jumped on our manager, calling her oblivious and things of the like. Of course they were being playful with each other though. 

 

"Alright girls! Let's just drop it for now! You need to get dressed still!" Our manager said, reminding is of our schedule. 

 

We rushed to get dressed so that we wouldn't be late. I could tell I wasn't the only one excited to go on a radio show. 

 

Let's just hope this all goes well. 

 

********************

Hey all you lovely people! Here is Chapter 3 and it is my longest yet! I hope you are all enjoying this story as much as I enjoy wrting it! 

Soooooo next chapter there will be some shade being thrown and some uncomfortable encounters! Hope you stay tuned! 

Love you all~ 

-A.T.K