Chapter Text
"Fuck." Memphis stared at the text message in disbelief. "You've gotta be fucking kidding." He swore under his breath before storming out from his room to look for Boo 9 in the living room.
Boo 9 was sitting in one of the plush chairs on his phone, while El Cool P was sprawled lazily across the carpet scrolling on his phone as well.
Memphis stomped into the living room, immediately turning to Boo 9. "Boo. The performance date is wrong. It says here it's the 17th of June. Isn't it supposed to be the 19th ?" Memphis held his phone out to Boo impatiently, who glanced up for a second in silence.
"Oh. Right, I forgot to tell you, but they’ve switched the dates. Apparently there was a clash in the bookings for the venue, and another person had booked the whole space for the entire day we were supposed to perform. They actually did have proof they had booked it earlier than we did, so we had no choice to move the whole thing up because they wouldn’t budge on the dates. They had already paid in full price too, so there wasn’t room to argue.” Boo explained while scrolling through the group chat he had with the event managers.
Memphis rolled his eyes and huffed in annoyance. “Couldn’t we have just done it after them? Why did you move it up?”
Boo 9 was still scrolling on his phone with his chin in hand, scanning texts quickly to make sure he relayed the right information. “No, the 19th is already Sunday. It’s not a good idea to do a night show on a weeknight either, you know we’d barely get anyone to watch.” Boo 9 finally switched his phone off to glance back up at Memphis’ grumpy frown etched deeply upon his face. “In fact, Friday on the 17th actually works better for us since Saturday is a general off day for most people, meaning that more people would actually come as compared to Sunday night.”
Memphis groaned exasperatedly, taking his hat off and running his hands through his hair roughly. “So then that means we’ll have to leave for Japan on the 16th and perform on the 17th, then be back by the 18th right? Memphis’ brows were furrowed, scowl evident on his face as he folded his arms.
Boo 9 looked to the side for a moment before looking back at Memphis. “Actually, the event manager was kind enough to rebook our flights and pay for us, and the only flight that fit within their budget just so happened to be on the 15th. With them helping us out here it eases the budget up a little, and with the extra days we can go and hangout with Alive. We haven’t seen them in forever.” Boo 9 dreamt of relaxing massages and gentle autumn breezes, having long talks with their friends who lived in Japan, another musical group who went by the name Alive.”
“What?! T-the 15th?” Memphis cried out in disbelief. “But- ugh!” He ran his hands through his hair roughly again, huffing loudly.
“What’s the big deal?” Cool P mumbled from his phone idly. “Who cares what day we do it? If anything, we’re getting a bigger crowd and free plane tickets, so what’re you getting your panties all in a twist for?”
“What the big deal is,” Memphis growled as he turned to face Cool P. “Some of us actually have important things to do, asshole.”
“Yea? Like what?” Cool P had finally looked up through half lidded eyes, staring from under his lashes at Memphis, fists balled and gaze set in a deep scowl.
“None of your fucking business.” Was all Memphis said before Cool P scoffed and rolled his eyes, crooked grin stretching lopsidedly as he laid back and started scrolling on his phone again. “You got a hot date or somethin’? Mad you were gonna miss out on getting-”
“Alright. Cut it, boys.” Boo 9 held his arm out in front of Memphis, eyes widened in anger and teeth bared in a snarl. Cool P held his hands out in mock surrender. “Alright, man I was kidding. But for real do you have a hot date or-”
“Cool it, P.” Boo 9 looked at him sharply with a warning look that Cool P knew better than to mess with, so he simply held his palms out again and sank back down. Memphis merely narrowed his gaze at him before shoving Boo 9’s arm away and hurriedly walking out with large, heavy steps.
“What’s going on with him?” Boo 9 asked as he watched Memphis leave.
“Fuck if I know.” Cool P muttered under his breath, pulling a cigarette from the pack in his jacket pocket single-handedly as the other continued to scroll online.
Memphis laid on his bed in frustration, hat thrown on the floor in annoyance. He hadn’t expected the dates to be moved up at all. Was it his fault for not thinking this far ahead? But then, what are the odds something like this happens anyways? Should he have been more prepared? Fuck, what would KC-
At that moment, a knock came at the door.
Memphis sat up, brows still furrowed in frustration. “It’s me, babe.” Came a soft voice from the other side of the door. Instantly, Memphis’ brows relaxed and all the tension he had felt prior instantly melted. “Come in.”
The door opened to reveal KC Glow, his unofficial boyfriend. They had been dating for a while secretly, not wanting to reveal things so soon until they both felt ready enough to tell the others. So far, only Boo 9 and Jogg D knew, with the couple feeling that they were the only ones who they could trust to tell.
KC was tall, nearly a head taller than Memphis, donning a loose old T-shirt without his usual hat. He closed the door behind him, immediately making his way over to sit beside Memphis, who greeted him with a soft peck on the lips.
“Hey, Kayce.” Memphis tried to grin, but knew it looked forced. And if KC noticed, he didn’t say anything about it. “What’s up?” KC asked instead, looping an arm around Memphis and pulling his head onto his shoulder, hand coming to rub gentle circles on his side.
“Nothing. Just talked about the upcoming show with Boo. The date’s been moved up cause of stupid double booking, so now we’re heading down by the 15th.” Memphis murmured, exasperated as he let out yet another sigh for the umpteenth time that day.” KC merely hummed. “That’s a bit earlier than you expected, hm?
Memphis leaned back hard, bringing KC down as well, their backs hitting the mattress with a soft whump. He snuggled into KC’s side closer, finger coming to trace the outline of his collarbones gently. “That’s also spending longer than I expected with Mr Main Character.” Memphis grumbled as KC watched him quietly, his boyfriend looking like a wet, angry cat.
“Well, that also means that you have some time to hang out with Alive right? It’s been ages since we last saw ‘em. When was it, like three years ago?” KC questioned. Memphis looked up to glance at KC, his boyfriend’s doe eyes staring back from underneath long lashes and freckles visible from the close proximity. Memphis was seized by the sudden urge to pepper his face in kisses.
“Um, yea. I think so too.” Memphis uttered distractedly. KC knew his boyfriend had his head up in the clouds, mind swirling with thoughts about the changed dates so he didn’t ask anymore questions. Instead he pressed a soft kiss to the middle of Memphis’ forehead, right between his brows, rubbing a finger on the spot as if he were smoothing it out.
Memphis looked at him questioningly as KC repeated the action. “I’m making sure you don’t have any wrinkles. You always frown so much and this area is where you get wrinkles the most.” KC joked playfully, as Memphis snorted and let his boyfriend have his fun, glad that he was trying to make him feel better.
-
Memphis scrubbed the dirty dishes, deep in throught. His mind was still on the matter of the show date being moved up, when KC’s face floated up in his brain. Fuck, why did their one year anniversary have to clash with this stupid show? It wasn’t even a really big one, it was just an invitation for one of the team’s sub-units to perform for an underground music festival. He had already promised to perform at the show a month ago and they had been rehearsing throughout, so he couldn’t back out now either. He set the dish he was holding down in the sink, deeply frustrated that he would have to miss their first anniversary. He had been planning to take KC out for dinner, and then to a special garden in town where they could have a special, quiet moment together.
Memphis picked the half washed dish back up and started to rinse the suds off, realizing he’d been spacing out for a few minutes. What was he going to do? He didn’t want KC to think that he had forgotten, but there was no way he could celebrate with him this time. Sure, he could celebrate it early, or wait until he returned, but he wanted things to be perfect. He wanted KC to know truly how much he cares for him, and to show his love in a well thought out plan, beautifully wrapped in a big, grand gesture.
Everything had been planned out already, why did the show just have to ruin it all? Memphis couldn't back out from the show, but letting KC down wasn't as option either.
Memphis felt uneasiness bubble up from within him, his anxiety starting to rile up. He felt sick at the thought of everything going haywire. His head swam, filled with horrible, horrible scenarios of things getting worse, of screaming and crying and broken hearts.
But what was he to do?
In the days leading up to the show, Memphis grew more and more worried. He began to avoid KC, barely speaking to him, consumed by guilt and anxiety. He barely left his room, eating downstairs only if he was sure KC wasn’t going to be there. KC could only glance worriedly at Memphis, watching him as he floated around with his head down. Everytime he knocked, Memphis would mumble something about being busy preparing for the show and that he wanted to practice alone, or that he was tired. Eventually, two days before they were supposed to leave, KC decided to leave him alone for a while.
Memphis’ heart sank deeper when he realized KC hadn’t knocked at all today, thinking that he had truly fucked up. He buried himself into his music, blasting the tracks he was set to perform in Japan nonstop, leaving his room even less than he had in the past few days.
Finally on the day that they were scheduled to leave, M.O.G, Boo 9, El Cool P, Kevin, Memphis and MJ 182 stood outside the house doing a final checking.
“Does everyone have their passports?” Boo 9 looked straight at Cool P, who rolled his eyes as he fished his out of his pocket. “I forgot it one fuckin’ time…” Everyone else showed Boo 9 their passports as well too, Boo 9 giving each a quick glance. Memphis was still staring into space, barely having heard the exchange that took place.
“Memphis.” Boo 9 spoke firmly, startling him out of his daydream. “Uh, y-yea?” Memphis tried to look normal, like he wasn’t completely out of it a moment ago. “Your passport.” Boo 9 continued.
“Oh, oh yea. Yea, uh. It’s- uh, um.” Memphis groped around in his pocket, unable to find it. He set his backpack down, digging through it hurriedly, but to no avail. He paused for a second, gaze on the ground. “I think I left it upstairs.” He whispered in a small voice.
He immediately entered the house again quietly, as it was 3 in the morning and didn’t want to wake anyone who was asleep. He padded across the corridor hurriedly to his room, before grabbing the passport on his table and shutting the door slowly. As he made his way down the corridor again, he noticed KC’s room, stopping abruptly in front. He noticed the lights were on, meaning that KC was still up.
Unbeknownst to him, KC hadn’t been sleeping well either, worried about Memphis, fearing that perhaps he had done something to upset him or whatever he was dealing with he felt KC didn’t deserve to know. Memphis’ heart ached painfully, desperately wanting to open the door and run into KC’s open arms. But instead he merely stood outside, fingers gripping the passport tightly. KC had noticed the shadow from underneath the door frame, and slowly made his way over to the front of the door, standing an inch away from it. Memphis bit his lip as his head gently knocked against the frame, his hand coming to rest on the wooden surface.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do. I-” He breathed out tearfully, voice choking up.
KC stood behind the door, unable to hear anything. The shadow was still there, and he had no idea who it was.
Memphis took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I love you. Goodbye, KC.” The two mirrored each other’s positions, separated by a door frame, fear and uncertainty.
After his sorrowful farewell, Memphis lifted his head up and walked away to meet the others. After the shadow left, KC slowly opened the door, seeing no one there. He walked down the stairs hesitantly, out into the living room. He made his way to the front door, opening it and feeling the chilly morning breeze hit him. He noticed the end of the bus that they usually took to go out just leaving the porch and turning out to the street, a flash of a familiar blue the last thing he spotted in the window of the bus.
On the bus, Boo 9 gave Memphis a quiet glance at his red ringed eyes as the latter pretended to look outside the window but saw nothing.