Work Text:
Soul's POV~
fan meetings have always been my favorite type of event that we do since we debuted. To me, nothing is more fun than seeing our fans in front of us and being able to interact with them. It always brings a strange kind of pride me whenever a fan praises my dancing skills or my personality, Even tho my Korean is not good, I can understand it better now but It always warms my heart whenever someone tries to speak to me in Japanese, Even a simple 'hello' in Japanese can make my heart flatter and make me bring into an uncontrollable smile.
"We are here boys, Let's go," Our manager said, putting a stop to the van.
We started to exit the van but as soon as I got out I was hit by the cold air that chilled my bare hands. I shivered a little before putting my hands inside my jacket's pockets. we started walking to the back door but the closer we got closer, the more we could hear cheers from the front gate.
"Ah~, Can't wait to meet our fans after so long," Intak said, jumping occasionally, which made me giggle softly.
We reached the building in no time, we were led through white halls before we reached backstage where a small stage was placed in front of us. it was only 2 meters high with some stairs to its side. a long table was already set and the staff were putting chairs for us and the fans.
"Come on, the makeup artists are waiting," Our manager said before leading us to another room filled with mirrors and chairs and another small coach at the corner.
"Alright, Intak-ssi, Keeho-ssi, and Jiung-ssi will do their makeup and hair first and then the rest will be after, meanwhile the ones who aren't doing their makeup, can go and change at the back," A stylist said leading Intak, Keeho, and Jiung towards the front of the room where three chairs were set in front of a big mirror and then handed us our outfits. I quickly thanked the stylist before heading towards the back of the room where 3 small fitting rooms were located.
It didn't take me long to put my outfit on as it was simple and didn't have any tricky zippers or straps that I needed to be careful about. Once I made sure my outfit was neat and put on my shoes, I stepped out of the changing room handing my clothes to our manager who put them in separate bags with everyone's name on his bag. Jongseob was already sitting on the couch with his headphones on so I just walked towards him before throwing myself on the couch beside him. I closed my eyes and positioned myself so that I was curled up with my knees almost touching my chest. I felt my body relax and I started to feel myself falling asleep but before I could I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. At first, I was going to ignore it but it kept vibrating so I decided to take a look in case something was wrong. When I took my phone out, I was surprised to see over 7 messages from an unknown number. At first, I thought it was spam or a prank as those were very common nowadays but I then saw my name in the last sent messages and decided to open it. If it was a prank or spam then I would simply just block the number.
---7 New Unread Messages---
"- Hey baby, how are you?
- it's been so long since I last saw you.
-I can't wait to see you again today.
-last time we couldn't talk because of that stupid manager but don't worry today I will make sure no one can disturb us.
- I brought you a very cute present with me.
- I can't wait to give it to you in a few minutes my love.
-I am sure you're gonna love it so much.
- I gotta go now, see you in a few minutes, Soul baby <3
When I was done reading the message, I felt a shiver of fear through my body. What do they mean they will make sure nobody disturbs us? And why do they call me baby? Why do they talk to me like we are very close? Is it a sasaeng? Or a psychopath? Or maybe some obsessed fan? Or it can simply be an overexcited fan that somehow managed to get my number but I don't think that makes it any better. Or it could be-
A hand that didn't belong to me suddenly made contact with my back and pulled me back to reality. Before I could stop myself, I flinched back hard. My phone flew from my hand and fell on the ground with a small *thud*. When I looked up I found Jiung looking at me with a blank expression on his face but his eyes showed how worried he was.
"Are you okay? You look as pale as a ghost" he said frowning before touching my sweaty forehead.
"You don't have a fever" he murmurs taking his hand away from my face.
"I'm fine, hyung," I said with a smile that I am sure looked too fake to be believed.
"I will pretend that I believe you for now but we will definitely talk about it some other time. Your turn is up, the stylist asked for the rest of you to get your hair and makeup done" he said.
I nodded before jumping from the couch and walking toward one of the empty chairs. The stylist stopped in front of me before ordering me to close my eyes as she started applying my makeup. I sighed and closed my eyes letting my mind wander around thinking about nothing in particular. When the stylist finished her work, all of us were ready to go. We all got our mics and made sure that the voice was set properly and that it worked just fine. Before I knew it, I was being pushed towards the small stage by a very energetic Intak. He looked excited and very happy so I decided to play along with him and jump onto the stage with him. When we finally were out on the stage, the cheers of our fans made me forget about any worries that I had. We performed two songs for our fans so if they were nervous, they would loosen up. When we finished we took a 10 minutes break before sitting down and starting to sign the albums.
The first hour passed very quickly, most of our fans were polite and lovely to meet. They got me a lot of gifts that were really cute and lovely and some even learned a few Japanese sentences to chat with me. With all of the fun, I almost forgot about the weird messages from earlier until a small girl sat in front of me. She had red hair, a nose piercing, and a small heart tattoo on her ring finger.
"Hello, how are you? " I asked with a wide smile. She returned the smile but it was very weird and it sent shivers down my body. "What are you doing Shota? You can't think about your fans like this. " I scolded myself.
"Hello, baby. Long time no see" she said with a big almost lunatic smile.
"Uhhh, Hi," I said unsure of what to do in that situation.
"You know, I've been a fan of yours since the very beginning. I watched all of your fancams and every content you guys appear on especially you. You are my number one bias, I Love you so much. I even have tons of posters of you in my room and have some shirts with your picture on them. " she said in one breath. Her voice was very high pitched so by the time she finished I felt my ears ring just a tiny bit.
"Oh really? I am very happy then. What's your favorite song? " I asked as I signed her album.
"Mine is totally jump, the song is so addictive and all but most importantly you were amazing in the mv, your fit was so hot and you looked so handsome, not to mention your dancing and the way your body moves is so sexy and the-"
"Ah, really!? Thank you so much I am flattered" I interrupted her shifting uncomfortably in my chair. I never liked people talking like that about my body. I like when they tell me my body is flexible and my dance moves are sharp and on point but never when they tell me my moves are sensual.
Once I finished signing the album, I smiled and returned it to her but instead of grabbing the album she grabbed my hand by my wrist. I thought she did it by accident so I tried to move my hands slowly but the moment I moved, her grip tightened. She still had a smile on her face like nothing was happening.
"Umm, e-excuse me, can you l-let go of my hand, please? " I stuttered feeling the skin under her hand bruising.
"What's going on? " Theo interfered from the chair next to mine.
"Nothing, we were just comparing our wrist size as our hands are very different," she said with a smile but still didn't let go.
"I see, well, excuse me but you can't touch our artists like this. This is a rule of this fanmeeting and if you break that rule you can get kicked out so please let go of his wrist and move on cause your time is up, the next fan is waiting" our manager said from behind me before reaching out, and removing the girl's hand politely. When he let her hand go, she reached forward and held his wrist tightly before pulling him towards her which made him lose his balance a bit and hold himself with his other hand against the table. Her smile completely disappeared and was replaced by something most psychotic and before anyone knew it, she took my pen and slammed it into the manager's hand that was braced on the table. The piercing scream he let out fell deaf to my ears. All I could see was the injured hand in front of me on the table and the crazy smile on the girl's face.
"That's for the last time when you interrupted me and baby Soul," she said before falling into a fit of laughter.
I felt a hand pulling me up from my chair and leading me backstage, my breathing was hefty and every breath was more painful than the other. My vision was blurry and I couldn't hear anything but the screams of the manager and the fans outside. It was because of me. The manager is injured because of me. The fanmeeting was ruined because of me. The fans are scared because of me. If I told them about the message before we went out, maybe none of this would have happened. I tried to take a deep breath but all I got was a little oxygen before I choked on air. I tried to breathe between the coughs but it only hurt my chest. I could feel tears dripping down my face blurring my vision even more than before. I heard people talking around me but I couldn't understand any word they were saying and all I heard was the awful screams that were going on outside. I felt a hand brushing through my hair before my head was laid down on something warm. I heard a steady heartbeat under my head and leaned more into it. The person who was hugging me started to breathe more heavily but steadily and I found myself following the pattern. By the time my breathing got even, I was feeling drowsy and almost like I was stuck in a daze between being awake and sleeping. The warm hug I was in and the steady hand running through my hair made me on the verge of sleeping but I forced myself to stay awake, I worried everyone enough, and the least I could do was tell them I was alright before passing out.
I managed to open my eyes slightly but closed them once I felt the light hurting my eyes. I groaned, shielding my eyes with my hands. I blinked a few times until my eyes got used to the lights, whoever was holding me let go but kept a steady hand on my shoulder which made me feel warm. When I looked up, the first thing I saw was the tear-stained face of Intak. His face was flushed and his eyes were in different shades of red. The moment our eyes met, he ran towards me before throwing himself on me making me fall and landing on my back with him on top of me. I was about to push him off of me but when his shoulders started to shake, I sighed and returned the hug. We stayed like this for a few minutes before I heard someone clearing their throat.
"Get up, dummy. You'll crush him with your body" Keeho said helping Intak up before holding my hand softly and pulling me up.
"You okay?" He asked leading me to the couch before sitting down and pulling me down with him.
"I'm fine, How is the manager? " I asked.
"He is fine, the paramedics said that the pen didn't cut any major nerves so they will remove the pen and stitch the wound, and with physical therapy, his hand will be fine"
"That's good. " I said looking at the floor.
"Okay, what's going on? And don't you dare to tell me nothing 'cause I literally feel guilt and sadness producing out of you" He said with the rare stern look on his face.
I opened my mouth and then closed it again but in the end, I decided just to tell him the truth.
"I received some disturbing and strange messages before our fanmeeting but I just brushed them off as a prank or something, but I guess I should have taken it seriously," I said with a bitter chuckle.
"What kind of messages? "
"See for yourself, Here," I said, handing him my phone.
He opened the messaging app and read the messages. His facial expressions changed the more he read, starting from confusion to frowning to finally pure anger on his face. He asked if he could borrow my phone before getting up and throwing an 'excuse me' over his shoulder. I closed my eyes, leaning backward to rest my head against the couch. 10 minutes later, I felt the couch dip beside me before a hand was placed on my knee, I didn't open my eyes but knew that the other person knew I was awake. When I opened my eyes, I saw Jeongseob beside me watching something on his phone.
"Can I go to the bathroom?" I asked.
"I'm not sure if you can go alone right now," he said unsure
"It's fine, I'm okay. I won't take long anyway" I said, standing up.
"Okay, but tell Keeho Hyung on your way out," he said before returning his attention to his phone.
I walked toward Keeho who was talking angrily to someone on the phone.
"Hyung" I called.
"Hang on a minute please, " he said before taking the phone away from his ear and putting whoever was on the line waiting.
"I'm going to the bathroom," I said.
"Give me a minute and I will go with you"
"It's fine, Hyung. I can go by myself" I said, walking towards the door.
I didn't wait for a reply before opening the door and slipping out. The bathroom was only a few halls away from our room so it didn't take me long to find it.
I went inside and walked straight to the sink. I braced myself on the sink and closed my eyes. I could feel the familiar feeling of tears starting to gather in my eyes but I splashed my face with cold water before they fell. If I began to cry, I knew I would drive myself into another panic attack. I started to breathe slowly and deeply until I felt the pressure in my chest loosened up a bit. I took a deep breath and turned off the tap before taking a few tissues to dry my face.
Suddenly, the sound of the bathroom door opening echoed in the silent room. My back was facing the door so I couldn't see who came in but it must be one of the members as this is a private bathroom only for us.
"I said I would come back quickly, did you miss me already? " I teased whoever came in as I dried my face and ensured no water landed on the outfit.
"Of course I did, baby. Didn't you miss me ?"
The sound of the familiar high-pitched feminine voice made me freeze. I heard the undoubted sound of footsteps coming closer to me but no matter how much I tried, I couldn't move my body. I felt sweat forming on my forehead and at the back of my neck.
"Aren't you gonna look at me, honey? I already miss seeing your handsome face" the girl said with a giggle.
My breath was starting to come out at a faster pace and I felt my body starting to shake. I tried to look for my phone in my pocket but I remembered that Keeho had taken it earlier.
'𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵?' I thought.
The footsteps suddenly stopped and the room fell into an uneasy quietness. I tried to make myself turn around but my limbs refused to cooperate with me. I could feel the tears that I tried so hard to hold, leaking from my eyes but I didn't dare to raise my hand to wipe them.
"What's wrong, baby? Aren't you gonna look at me? You couldn't keep your eyes off of me at the last concert"
'𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵?' I thought. I closed my eyes trying to remember what she was talking about but my mind came blank.
"What do y-you want from m-me? " I said with an almost uncontrollable stutter.
"Oh, I just want to spend some time with you, my love. I know we haven't spent a lot of time together but don't worry, if you come with me, we will spend a lot of time together and get to know each other better" she said.
'𝘐𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘢𝘱 𝘮𝘦!? ' 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘮.
"I-I think I would rather stay here," I said with the steadiest voice I could muster at the moment.
"What do you mean? Come on, I prepared the perfect date for us, I heard that you like to play games so I found the loveliest internet Cafe ever and guess what it's not far from here like only 30 minutes" She said trying to drag me again towards the door but I dug my feet harder in the ground.
"I said No! " I shouted before pulling my hand harshly from hers and backing up until my back hit the sink where I was previously washing my face.
When I looked back at the girl, there was no trace of the big smile that was previously craved on her face instead her facial expressions were twisted into something dark and 100% mad.
"What the fuck do you mean by no? Do you have any idea what I had to do to attend this stupid fanmeeting? Do you have any idea how much time and energy did it take to find that Cafe? I failed one of my fucking classes because of it. During the last concert, you kept looking and staring at me and you even winked at me so I already know that you like me so what in the world do you mean you don't want to come with me? It's not like I am kidnapping you, I am just taking you out on a goddamn date" She screamed charging at me at a fast pace but before she could reach me, the door burst open before Keeho, and Jiung came inside.
"What the fuck do you think you are doing ?" Keeho said with an almost deadly expression.
The girl paled visibly but did not back down or run away like I expected her to.
"It's none of your business," she said trying to reach for my hand again but this time Keeho stepped forward before taking my hand and pulling me behind him.
The girl tried to reach for me again but got pushed back this time by Jiung. She looked at us with a dark expression before making a run for the door but before she could escape, the door was opened and two security guards came inside. She tried to dodge them but they managed to catch her by her hands before pulling her out of the bathroom with her screaming on top of her lungs.
"What the fuck? Let me go, I didn't do anything wrong. Let me go you-"
Her screaming was cut off as Jiung decided that he had had enough and closed the door. It was quiet for a moment with only the sound of our breathing. Keeho slowly turned around and hovered his hands over my arm with an unsure expression, when I didn't move he slowly let his arms fall to his sides but before he could pull away completely I pulled him towards me before pulling him into a tight hug. I immediately felt myself relax as I breathed in his floral perfume scent.
"Are you okay?" He whispered trying to pull away but I whined a held onto him tighter.
"Shh, It's okay, I am not going anywhere, But we need to get back to our dressing room so we can change and go home"
I shook my head in denial trying to hold him closer.
"I have an idea, How about we both hold your hands till we reach our dressing room, huh?" Jiung said, startling me in the process. I completely forgot that he was still in the bathroom with us.
I was about to refuse again but the idea of going home and having my warm blanket around me was very appealing so after some minutes of thinking, I finally nodded and gradually started to pull away from Keeho. He immediately lashed to my right hand as Jiung came over to us and gently took my left hand into his.
"Let's go," Jiung said before opening the door and pulling me to the hallway, it didn't take us long to arrive at our dressing room but to me, it felt like hours. Everyone was already in their normal outfits so only me, Keeho and Jiung were left.
"Go change and we will head home right away," Theo said, pulling me inside an empty dressing room before closing the door. I quickly changed my clothes and hung the outfit for the stylist before opening the door and stepping out but before I could go further, I tripped on something or rather someone's leg before I could fall, I managed to regain my balance. when I looked down I saw Theo sitting against the wall beside the door with a leg stretched in front of him and the other let, suppose the one I tripped on was pulled protectivly against his chest.
"Yah, being the loveliest and cutest person in the world doesn't doesn't the right to walk all over us, normal and common people" He scolded me playfully with a fake angry look but it wasn't long before he brusted out laughing which made me laugh along with him
"Ah hyung, you think I am cute?" I asked expecting him to say no and then run away but instead, he stopped laughing and reached forward to cup my cheeks.
"Yeah, I think you are the cutest and loveliest weird person I've ever met, you have a very weird personality but that's what makes you you, your smile is like sunshine breaking through thick and gray clouds on a rainy day, the way you dance is so amazing and I'm pretty sure you are one of the best dancers in the industry right now and let's not mention your amazing vocals so yeah, I think you're cute"
By the time he finished his speech, my eyes were watery and I was struggling to hold my tears but instead of crying, I playfully pushed him away with a wet laugh. He laughed and ruffled my hair before running away with a big smile on his face.
"Everyone ready to go?" Our driver shouted from across the room, when all of us confirmed with a 'yes' or a nod he gestured for us to follow him outside. On our way to the van, I noticed Jogseob walking beside me with a conflicting expression on his face. He kept glancing at me before making his way over to me.
"Wanna sit with me and play some video games till we arrive ?" He asked once he was walking beside me.
"Sure, just know that I will beat you in whatever game you choose" I teased
"What!? That's not true, I am the one who is gonna beat you"
"No, you won't," I said with a teasing smile.
"We'll see" He murmured.
When we got to the van, I pulled Jogseob with me to the back seats so no one would disturb us, We picked a random game and started playing it. The whole ride was filled with shouting and laughter as every time Jogseob would lose, he would start complaining and screaming. By the time we arrived at the dorm, It was clear enough that I was winning so instead of finishing the game, we agreed to have a rematch but this time we would make the members bit on who was gonna win.
"I'm telling you, I only lost because the car was moving a lot so I couldn't focus but trust me, Next time I'm gonna kick your ass," He said, pointing his finger at my face.
"Yeah, yeah. We will see who is gonna kick the other's ass" I said before biting his finger and running away laughing. I heard him shout and complain to Intake who was laughing so hard so in the end he just gave up. The elevator ride was very short so we reached the dorm quickly. We took off our shoes before everyone left to do their thing. Keeho and Intak left to order food, Theo left to shower, and Jogseob and Intak were fighting about what movie to watch. I laughed before making my way to my room to change into something more comfy. By the time I finished, the food was already present and Harry Potter was playing on the TV. There was an empty place on the couch beside Jiung and Theo but there was one specific member that I wanted to sit close to so Instead of sitting on the sofa, I walked around it before sitting on the ground beside Keeho. He smiled at me before handing me a plate filled with food. I smiled back before starting to eat. When the food was gone, we were only halfway through the movie so we decided to continue it before getting up so we cleared the empty food boxes before getting back to the living room to continue the movie. I was about to sit back on the ground but before I could, A warm hand, Keeho's, pulled me up to sit on the sofa. I smiled before leaning my head to rest on his shoulder. instantly I felt his arm wrapped around my waist, I felt my body tense for a moment before I relaxed completely in his hold.
"Comfy?" He whispered.
I nodded before wrapping my arms around him so we were cuddling properly. When e settled, I felt a smile getting craved on my face before giggling a bit.
"What's so funny?" Keeho whispered.
"Nothing hyung, you just give the best and warmest hugs ever," I said, moving my head so it was on my chest instead of his shoulder. His hold tightened before I felt his hand coming up to run through my hair.
"Well, you're always welcome to cuddle with me anytime for, however long you want," He said.
"Good cause I am not letting you go any time soon," I said before focusing back on the movie.
"Neither I am" He replied before pecking my forehead and continuing to watch the move. That's how we spent the rest of the day, One Harry Potter movie turned into a full marathon because Jongseob asked for it and we honestly couldn't say no to him so we easily agreed. By the time we were done, It was almost midnight so we decided to make a fort in the living room using tons of blankets and pillows. when we were done we turned off the lights before laying down. I ended up between Keeho and Jiung who immediately cuddled to me like a pair of koalas, normally I would push them away but today I leaned into them even more and that's how I fell asleep. feeling warm and comfortable between two of my favorite people in the world.