“You’re leaving already? This early?” Seulgi asked over the phone, bewildered.

“Yeah, the flight leaves at 2pm,” Jaebeom answered, his cheek and shoulder balancing his phone in place before he opened the car door.

“Alright, see you!” Seulgi replied, jolly.

“See you! I’m hanging up. I’ll text you when I reach.”

Jaebeom thought it was a pity that they were taking different flights. His leaves in the afternoon, while hers is an overnight flight, reaching Vietnam early in the morning. But at least, they would have more chances to see other this time round due to the awards show happening.

That simple fact brought a smile to his lips.

He busied himself with a book in his hands, and the other 3 boys in the van did their own stuff quietly while the manager talked to them once in a while.

They checked into their hotel room the organisers had booked for them the first thing they landed. It was already night time in Vietnam, just in time for a good night’s sleep. He remembered to text her though, and she replied almost instantly, saying that her flight was about to depart.

He slumped down onto his king-sized bed the moment he entered the room. After replying, he made sure to unpack his luggage, bringing extra clothes into the bathroom and took a warm shower.

He slept after scrolling through social media, with soft r&b music bringing him into a deep slumber.

The flight was fun for Seulgi. Coincidentally, TWICE’s management team had booked the same flight as hers and she was able to interact with Nayeon and Momo about her recent La Rouge concert she’d invited them to (of course, amongst many other things). Eventually, the girls all had a nice rest after socialising the first hour into the flight, before sleepiness of theirs took over.

When she was brought into the lobby of the hotel, the Vietnamese organisers remembered to emphasise that the hotel had almost been fully booked for the Korean artistes. Figuring that Jaebeom might’ve already been asleep somewhere, she decided not to text him to ask where he was.

She, too, crashed on her bed the moment she entered to continue her sleep during the flight.

Warm sunlight peeked into the gaps in between the curtains, shining on his face before his alarm woke him up. Fiddling around the sides of his bed, he tried to locate his phone amidst the sleepiness. When he looked at the time, he sighed and yawned. Rubbing his eyes with one hand, he looked at the groupchat and was notified to go down for breakfast soon. His rehearsal would also be earlier compared to the rest since his group reached the earliest.

Stretching his limbs and debating if he could afford closing his eyes again, he dragged himself out of bed and trudged towards the bathroom.

It was almost 11am when she woke up. Still dressed in her white t-shirt and jeans from last night, she wondered how she was able to sleep so soundly the whole night. She checked her phone, and saw his text saying that he had already left the hotel to the rehearsal venue. She pouted, thinking that the day started way too early for them, but was also something they were used to.

Kids! I’ll pick you girls up in an hour. We’ll go to a nearby cafe since we have plenty of time before rehearsals.

The manager texted in the Red Velvet group chat. Pulling herself out of her bed, she grabbed her clothes from her luggage and proceeded to freshen herself up.

“Sooyoung and Wendy are still sleeping,” the manager spoke when the 3 girls sat comfortably in the car.

They snickered, thinking that they were such sleepyheads. But it was probably the sleep debt accumulated since La Rouge, so they couldn’t blame them.

The weather in Vietnam was scorching hot, and she had underestimated the tropical heat. Wearing a black cotton dress shirt, Seulgi pulled her hair into a messy bun.

They reached the cafe at last, and she spotted a few fans already holding up their phones, filming them. She gave a smile and waved to each camera, thankful that fans wanted to see them.

The manager went to order when they sat down idly, occupying themselves with their phones. Seulgi checked her phone to see that Jaebeom had just ended his rehearsal.

They get notified that the Red Carpet would be delayed by an hour and 40 minutes due to the chaotic situation with the fans outside the stadium. The dark sky was already starting to loom over, and Seulgi was undoubtedly worried for the fans when she the manager updated them about the disorderly fashion happening outside.

Jaebeom, on the other hand, was fooling around with the members.

“Let’s play rock paper scissors. Loser goes outside and do a funny dance for 10 secs,” Bambam suggested.

The rest of them laughed at the idea, then proceeded to stand in a circle, arms stretched out. Unsurprisingly, it was always the one who suggested that lost. The members guffawed, clapping at Bambam’s misery.

“Oh my god my image,” Bambam commented, facepalming, though with a grin on his face. He shook his head, then peeked outside to see many staff members standing around. The array of sections of waiting rooms (just a large ballroom divided into many parts) was intimidating for Bambam.

“Hurry!” Jackson commanded, before seeing Bambam run out and doing a funny dance that brought them into fits of laughter. The staff members chortled, cackling at how mischievous GOT7 simply was.

GOT7 and Red Velvet’s waiting area were situated near each other’s. They could hear their laughter through the foldable walls and sniggered to themselves, wondering what kind of funny situations the boys had put themselves into again.

Jaebeom and Seulgi agreed not to meet each other during this idle time. They were in a foreign country, illegal photos and rumours would definitely spread the moment anyone sees the two of them, both from very popular groups, together. So they decided to just enjoy the company of their bandmates, while knowing that they were just less than an aisle away.

“Red Carpet is starting! Please get ready according to the sequence pasted in each room,” the organiser spoke through a mic, voice bellowing through the speakers.

Red Velvet and GOT7 were supposed to stand together, until one of the staff brought Yoona to stand in between them. The girls greeted her, happy that they were able to attend an awards show together with such a well-respected sunbae.

“Unnie!” Sooyoung greeted cheerfully, tugging her arm as Yoona smiled gracefully at every single one of the girls.

Seulgi caught Jaebeom looking at that moment, then both grinned before they both broke the short eye contact. The first group, ITZY, walked the red carpet and it marked the start of the ceremony.

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