Chapter Text
“Thank you for coming. I love you all! See you soon!”
The moment solo idol Nanase Riku stepped off the stage, the world around him spun. The lights were way too bright for his eyes. Considering how much he was sweating, he thought he’d get too warm when actually, the air felt cold.
“Nanase-san!” Iori ran towards his talent, grabbing hold of his shoulders to prevent the wobbly idol from falling over. He sat Riku down on a chair. “Takanashi-san, the oxygen bottle!”
Takanashi Tsumugi was already behind him when Iori turned out. Right away, Iori took the precious bottle from the manager’s hand and put the mask on Riku’s face.
“I-I did it, Iori.” The sweetheart idol forced a smile through his exhaustion and pain. “I did the encore.”
“Yes, you did well.” Iori nodded in approval. He returned a smile so that Riku would understand that he truly acknowledged that feat. “Now stop talking and focus on taking deep breaths. We don’t want you to have an attack after such a wonderful performance.”
Iori had no idea how much his little, gentle smile meant to Riku. The idol’s vision became clearer. The man before him shone brighter than any light at the backstage area. Riku welcomed the warmth from Iori’s touch. At that moment, Iori became his sole focus, no, his world. It was almost impossible for him to calm down when he was overwhelmed with many emotions.
“You’re complimenting me? Ahaha, I’m so happy!” Riku laughed.
It was the only time Riku ever laughed after his performance.
~~
Nanase Riku’s popularity is dropping quickly due to his recent performance being sloppy and full of errors.
They say the solo idol is past his prime.
He didn’t even appear for an encore.
“I’m sorry” became Riku’s catchphrase. Every time he finished his performance, he’d say those exact words through ragged breaths and heavy coughs. His respiratory condition became much less manageable. The fans, instead of smiling, were worrying about Riku since he always appeared tired.
Stress was Riku’s number one enemy. As his manager, Iori knew full well he had to keep Riku happy. Somehow, he felt he was doing the exact opposite. Riku shouldn’t have been apologising to him after his performances. He should have smiled. One failure led to stress, and stress caused more failures. Iori could blame no one other than himself.
“If I hadn’t pushed him that night…”
It was one stupid decision from manager Izumi that created this whole mess.
Three weeks ago, Nanase Riku collapsed on stage. Iori could have made the call to cancel the live concert beforehand since he’d seen how pale Riku was. Tsumugi had already tried to convince him to do so, but Iori believed that suddenly cancelling the show would cause a lot of backlash and disappointment.
Iori had cried that night at the hospital. “I’d never made a single mistake in my life until then. My poor judgement ends up hurting not only Nanase-san, but the staff and the fans as well.” The young manager still cried. His heart was heavy with regret. “If only I had listened to you…”
Tsumugi could only listen and told the boy that she was to blame as well for not going against him more strongly.
~~
“Iori must hate me.” Hugging his knees, Riku sobbed. “Who am I to call myself an idol when I can’t even sing properly?”
“Riku-san, you know that is not true.” Tsumugi did her best in her supporting role. “Iori-san really cares about you. For now, we will screen and select jobs that seem manageable for you, so please try not to worry about anything else and focus only on recovery.” She went so far as to bow to her talent. “Please trust us.”
While Riku wasn’t fully convinced, he believed his current line of thinking would only do him harm. “Understood.”
Riku had seen how hard Iori cried that night. As an idol, the least he could do was hold onto hope until he could become Iori’s hope again.
~~
Two weeks later…
Riku’s health improved considerably, enough for him to hold a small live concert. On standby, Riku took a deep breath before letting out a forceful exhale. He was determined to make this event a success for his fans, and for Iori.
The moment he took off, he was greeted by cheers. Riku apologised to them one last time before taking them to his world of hope and happiness.
Manager Izumi watched his idol from the darkest corner of the backstage. No one had any idea how much he missed that dazzling light. He was happy Nanase Riku could make a successful comeback. Tears began to roll down his face as he stepped further and further away from the light of hope.
“Iori!” After saying goodbye to his fans, Riku called out to his manager. “Iori, where are you?” But instead of a gentle, warm smile, the idol was met with Tsumugi’s teary face. Her hand was holding a letter. A resignation letter from an idol manager position from Izumi Iori, to be exact.
“No…” The solo idol fell to his knees. “Why, Iori? This isn’t what I want.” His body shook uncontrollably. “I need you! I made it through to today because of you, so why? Why did everything have to end this way…?” He wailed until his breath quickened and his vision turned black.
If only Riku knew what Iori had in mind.
If only Iori knew that he meant the world to Riku.