after the surprise, minji and her friends made in the event that wasn’t that grand – personally to her, she rushed to the backstage and started changing into normal outfits. it felt great to be on stage again. it had been too long and the complaints of not coming back had been gnawing at the edge of her worries. to her, it was more of a present to the world that had been waiting. getting the opportunity to shine again was something she grasped on because chances come once and that was the reason why she treasured the appearance on the stage together as four.

she was proud of herself. while she kept waiting in the dark, she sharpened her dance moves and honing her skills. satisfaction that she felt as the adrenaline rushed in her veins, the erratic breaths because of being nervous, and a sense of familiarity came over her and with a thought like that, it made her smile. just a little fulfilment could make you feel bigger than what it seemed.

“hey, how are you feeling?”

minji turned around see a man reclining his body on the door frame. he was grinning at her.

“let’s get out from here.”

she took his hand and pulled him out of the dressing room to a more quiet place. it had been like this for the past few years. no matter how many times the both of them fall into the abyss of darkness, they would pull each other out of the endless pit. in short, they supported each other in a quiet way where it wasn’t too obvious.

sometimes, they were seen together and they were speculated and that speculation was right. among the others, it was a rumour but to them, it wasn’t.  

“thanks for checking me up, jongin.”

“that is my job isn’t it? you’ve been wanting this and i am happy for you. i am even proud. sehun nudged me when you were doing your short solo dance moves.”

minji chuckled. she missed this. this proximity between them, and the light laughter in the air. she might be young but she thought that maybe, this is how love feels like. jongin shifted closer to her and pulled her in his chest, head resting on his shoulder and her nose close to the crook of his neck.

“i want to see you on stage again.”

jongin confessed.

“you want to see me on stage and yet you didn’t react to any of my performances.”

“are we really going through this again?”

“yes.”

“come on, babe. you know the management wanted us to keep our cool. and then after they left…”

the only thing that made him shut up was when minji leaned towards him and started giving him light kisses on his neck. it stopped jongin for a while and after he composed himself, he voiced out again.

“when are you going to stop kissing my neck?”

minji did not answer. she continued her trail of kisses and kept on nibbling his skin. they had done this many times and yet, jongin still feel fluttered.

“please don’t leave a mark, dear.”

she looked up.

“you were about to talk about your members that left you behind. so i took the initiative to shut you up. because i have told you many times that you should always, always look ahead of you. and when you look in front, you’ll see me. i will stand before you and wait till you get to me and i will lead you to a better place.”

and every single time, she had to remind him that the dark past was something we should learn from and get over it. and every time he landed into the mishap of feeling lost and despair, she would bring him back to reality and showed him that now is better than then.

jongin s his arms around minji’s waist and embraced her like for the time he did when she was crying, needing help in maintaining her chaotic life as an idol.

“what would i do without you, gong minji.”